36.10: Hearing and Vestibular Sensation - The Vestibular System
- Identify the structures of the vestibular system that respond to gravity
Vestibular Information
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. Gravity is detected through head position, while angular acceleration and deceleration are expressed through turning or tilting of the head.
The vestibular system has some similarities with the auditory system. It utilizes hair cells just like the auditory system, but it excites them in different ways. There are five vestibular receptor organs in the inner ear, all of which help to maintain balance: the utricle, the saccule, and three semicircular canals. Together, they make up what is known as the vestibular labyrinth. The utricle and saccule are most responsive to acceleration in a straight line, such as gravity. The roughly 30,000 hair cells in the utricle and 16,000 hair cells in the saccule lie below a gelatinous layer, with their stereocilia (singular: stereocilium) projecting into the gelatin. Embedded in this gelatin are calcium carbonate crystals, similar to tiny rocks. When the head is tilted, the crystals continue to be pulled straight down by gravity, but the new angle of the head causes the gelatin to shift, thereby bending the stereocilia. The bending of the stereocilia stimulates specific neurons that signal to the brain that the head is tilted, allowing the maintenance of balance. It is the vestibular branch of the vestibulocochlear cranial nerve that deals with balance.
The fluid-filled semicircular canals are tubular loops set at oblique angles, arranged in three spatial planes. The base of each canal has a swelling that contains a cluster of hair cells. The hairs project into a gelatinous cap, the cupula, where they monitor angular acceleration and deceleration from rotation. They would be stimulated by driving your car around a corner, turning your head, or falling forward. One canal lies horizontally, while the other two lie at about 45 degree angles to the horizontal axis. When the brain processes input from all three canals together, it can detect angular acceleration or deceleration in three dimensions. When the head turns, the fluid in the canals shifts, thereby bending stereocilia and sending signals to the brain. Upon cessation of acceleration or deceleration, the movement of the fluid within the canals slows or stops. For example, imagine holding a glass of water. When moving forward, water may splash backwards onto the hand; when motion has stopped, water may splash forward onto the fingers. While in motion, the water settles in the glass and does not splash. Note that the canals are not sensitive to velocity itself, but to changes in velocity. In this way, moving forward at 60 mph with your eyes closed would not give the sensation of movement, but suddenly accelerating or braking would stimulate the receptors.
Higher Processing
Hair cells from the utricle, saccule, and semicircular canals also communicate through bipolar neurons to the cochlear nucleus in the medulla. Cochlear neurons send descending projections to the spinal cord and ascending projections to the pons, thalamus, and cerebellum. Connections to the cerebellum are important for coordinated movements. There are also projections to the temporal cortex, which account for feelings of dizziness; projections to autonomic nervous system areas in the brainstem, which account for motion sickness; and projections to the primary somatosensory cortex, which monitors subjective measurements of the external world and self-movement. People with lesions in the vestibular area of the somatosensory cortex see vertical objects in the world as being tilted. Finally, the vestibular signals project to certain optic muscles to coordinate eye and head movements.
Key Points
- The vestibular system uses hair cells, as does the auditory system, but it excites them in different ways.
- There are five vestibular receptor organs in the inner ear (the vestibular labyrinth): the utricle, the saccule, and three semicircular canals; the utricle and saccule respond to acceleration in a straight line, such as gravity.
- The bending of the stereocilia stimulates specific neurons that signal to the brain that the head is tilted, allowing the maintenance of balance.
- The fluid-filled semicircular canals are tubular loops set at oblique angle, arranged in three spatial planes; the base of each canal contains a cluster of hair cells that monitor angular acceleration and deceleration from rotation.
- Neuronal projections to the temporal cortex account for feelings of dizziness; projections to autonomic nervous system areas in the brainstem account for motion sickness; and projections to the primary somatosensory cortex monitor subjective measurements of the external world and self-movement.
Key Terms
- vestibulocochlear : of or pertaining to the vestibular and cochlear nerves
- vestibular system : the sensory system in mammals that contributes to movement, sense of balance, and spatial orientation
- stereocilium : any of many nonmotile cellular structures resembling long microvilli; those of the inner ear are responsible for auditory transduction