The vestibular system The purpose of the vestibular system is to keep tabs on the position and motion of your

head in space. There are really two components to monitoring motion angular acceleration (detect rotation) and linear acceleration (detect motion along a line). The vestibular system is divided into two receptor organs to accomplish these tasks.

The semicircular canals: The semicircular canals detect angular acceleration. There are 3 canals, corresponding to the three dimensions in which you move , so that each canal detects motion in a single plane. Each canal is set up as shown below, as a continuous endolymph-filled hoop. The actual hair cells sit in a small swelling at the base called the ampula.

The hair cells are arranged as a single tuft t hat projects up into a gelatinous mass, the cupula. When you turn your head in the plane of the canal, the inertia of the endolymph causes it to slosh against the cupula, deflecting the hair cells. Now, if you were to keep turning in circles, eventually the fluid would catch up with the canal, and there would be no more pressure on the cupula. If you stopped spinning, the moving fluid would slosh up against a

suddenly still cupula, and you would feel as though you were turning in the other direction. Naturally, you have the same arrangement (mirrored) on both sides of the head. Each tuft of hair cells is polarized - if you push it one way, it will be excited, but if you push it the other way, it will be inhibited. This means that the canals on either side of the head will generally be operating in a pushpull rhythm; when one is excited, the other is inhibited. It is important that both sides agree as to what the head is doing. If there is disagreement, if both sides push at once, then you will feel debilita ting vertigo and nausea. This is the reason that infections of the endolymph or damage to the inner ear can cause vertigo. However, if one vestibular nerve is cut, the brain will gradually get used to only listening to one side - this can actually be a treatment for intractable vertigo.

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