vestibular system

Examples of vestibular system in the following topics:

• Additional Sensory Systems

  • Two additional sensory systems are proprioception (which interprets body position) and the vestibular system (which interprets balance).
  • However, recent advances in science have expanded this canonical list of five sense systems to include two more: proprioception, which is the sense of the positioning of parts of the body; and the vestibular system, which senses gravity and provides balance.
  • The vestibular system is the sensory system that contributes to balance and the sense of spatial orientation.
  • While both the vestibular system and proprioception contribute to the "sense of balance," they have different functions.
  • The vestibular system, together with the cochlea, makes up the workings of the inner ear and provides us with our sense of balance.

• The Vestibular System

  • Gravity, acceleration, and deceleration are detected by evaluating the inertia on receptive cells in the vestibular system.
  • The stimuli associated with the vestibular system are linear acceleration (gravity) and angular acceleration/deceleration.
  • Gravity, acceleration, and deceleration are detected by evaluating the inertia on receptive cells in the vestibular system.
  • The vestibular system has some similarities with the auditory system.
  • Identify the structures of the vestibular system that respond to gravity

• Development of Hearing and Balance

  • Critical periods have been identified for the development of the hearing and vestibular system.
  • Critical periods have been identified for the development of hearing and the vestibular system.
  • In our vestibular system, neurons are undeveloped at neuronal birth and mature during the critical period of the first two to three postnatal weeks.
  • Animals with abnormal vestibular development tend to have irregular motor skills.
  • Studies have consistently shown that animals with genetic vestibular deficiencies during this critical period have altered vestibular phenotypes, most likely as a result of lack insufficient input from the semicircular canals and dopaminergic abnormalities.

• Balance and Determining Equilibrium

  • With hair cells in the inner ear that sense linear and rotational motion, the vestibular system determines equilibrium and balance states.
  • The neural signals generated in the vestibular ganglion are transmitted through the vestibulocochlear nerve to the brain stem and cerebellum.
  • Together, these components make up the vestibular system.
  • By comparing the relative movements of both the horizontal and vertical ampullae, the vestibular system can detect the direction of most head movements within three-dimensional (3-D) space.

• Vestibulocochlear (VIII) Nerve

  • It consists of the cochlear nerve that carries information about hearing and the vestibular nerve that carries information about balance.
  • The vestibular nerve travels from the vestibular system of the inner ear.
  • The vestibular ganglion houses the cell bodies of the bipolar neurons and extends processes to five sensory organs.
  • The other two sensory organs supplied by the vestibular neurons are the maculae of the saccule and utricle.
  • Inner ear illustration showing semicircular canal, hair cells, ampulla, cupula, vestibular nerve, and fluid

• Ataxia

  • Ataxia is a nonspecific clinical manifestation implying dysfunction of the parts of the nervous system that coordinate movement, such as the cerebellum.
  • The term vestibular ataxia is employed to indicate ataxia due to dysfunction of the vestibular system, which in acute and unilateral cases is associated with prominent vertigo, nausea, and vomiting.
  • Focal lesions - Any type of focal lesion of the central nervous system (such as stroke, brain tumur, multiple sclerosis) will cause the type of ataxia corresponding to the site of the lesion: cerebellar if in the cerebellum, sensory if in the dorsal spinal cord (and rarely in the thalamus or parietal lobe), vestibular if in the vestibular system (including the vestibular areas of the cerebral cortex).
  • Exogenous substances - Exogenous substances that cause ataxia mainly do so because they have a depressant effect on central nervous system function.
  • Ethanol is capable of causing reversible cerebellar and vestibular ataxia.

• Sensory Modalities

  • The cutaneous somatosensory system detects changes in temperature.
  • Multimodal perception is the ability of the mammalian nervous system to combine all of the different inputs of the sensory system to result in an enhanced detection or identification of a particular stimulus.
  • The olfactory system is the sensory system used for the sense of smell (olfaction).
  • The organ of equilibrioception is the vestibular labyrinthine system found in both of the inner ears.
  • Although the sense of time is not associated with a specific sensory system, psychological and neuro-scientific research indicates that human brains do have a system governing the perception of time.

• Reception

  • All bilaterally symmetric animals have a sensory system.
  • The development of any species' sensory system has been driven by natural selection; thus, sensory systems differ among species according to the demands of their environments.
  • Vestibular sensation, which is an organism's sense of spatial orientation and balance, proprioception (position of bones, joints, and muscles), and the sense of limb position that is used to track kinesthesia (limb movement) are part of somatosensation.
  • Although the sensory systems associated with these senses are very different, all share a common function: to convert a stimulus (light, sound, or the position of the body) into an electrical signal in the nervous system.
  • There are two broad types of cellular systems that perform sensory transduction.

• Functions of the Brain Stem

  • Though small, it is an extremely important part of the brain, as the nerve connections of the motor and sensory systems from the main part of the brain that communicate with the peripheral nervous system pass through the brain stem.
  • In addition, there are upper motor neurons that originate in the brain stem's vestibular, red, tectal, and reticular nuclei, which also descend and synapse in the spinal cord.
  • The brainstem also has integrative functions, including cardiovascular system control , respiratory control, pain sensitivity control, alertness, awareness, and consciousness.

• Audition: Hearing, the Ear, and Sound Localization

  • The human auditory system allows us to perceive and localize sounds in our physical environment.
  • The human auditory system allows the body to collect and interpret sound waves into meaningful messages.
  • The ear is the main sensory organ of the auditory system.
  • Within the cochlea there are three fluid-filled spaces: the tympanic canal, the vestibular canal, and the middle canal.