Humans have evolved sophisticated sensory receptors to detect features of the environment in which they live. In addition to the special senses such as hearing and sight, there are unobtrusive sensory systems such as the vestibu-lar system, which is sensitive to acceleration.
Acceleration can be considered as occurring in two forms—linear and angular. One familiar type of linear acceleration is gravity. Because this environmental fea-ture, unlike any other encountered by an organism, is always present, highly sophisticated systems have devel-oped to detect gravity and enable humans to maintain their position relative to Earth. A common form of angu-lar acceleration is that induced by rotation, such as a
The membranous labyrinth of the vestibular system, which contains the organs of balance: (lower left) the cristae of the semicircular ducts and (lower right) the maculae of the utricle and saccule. Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
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turning of the head. Through the vestibular apparatus these forces are detected, and appropriate motor activi-ties are organized to counter the postural perturbations that they induce.
The vestibular sensory organ is a paired structure located symmetrically on either side of the head within the inner ear. Inside each end organ are the hair cells, the detection units for both linear and angular acceleration.
Extending from each hair cell are fine, hairlike cilia; dis-placement of the cilia alters the electrical potential of the cell. Bending the cilia in one direction causes the cell membrane to depolarize, while hyperpolarization is induced by movement in the opposite direction. Changes in membrane potential induce alteration in the firing of nerve impulses by the afferent neurons supplying each hair cell.
The two types of acceleration are detected by two types of vestibular end organ. Linear acceleration is sensed by a pair of organs—the saccule and utricle—while there are three receptor organs—called semicircular canals—in each vestibular apparatus for the detection of angular acceleration.
Saccule and Utricle
Each saccule and utricle has a single cluster, or macula, of hair cells located in the vertical and horizontal planes, respectively. Resting upon the hair cells is a gelatinous membrane in which are embedded calcareous granules called otoliths. Changes in linear acceleration alter the pressure on the otoliths, causing displacement of the cilia and providing an adequate stimulus for membrane depolarization. Within each macula the hair cells are arranged in two groups oriented in opposite directions, so that the receptor functions in a push-pull fashion
within each organ. Since many of the nerve fibres travel-ing from the hair cells to the brain are constantly active, this arrangement makes the receptors a highly sensitive detection system for both vertical and horizontal linear acceleration.
Semicircular Canals
The angular acceleration detectors within the semicircu-lar canals function in a different way. The three canals—which in fact are considerably more than a semi-circle in circumference—are oriented at approximately right angles to one another. Two are vertically placed, and one is at about 30° to the horizontal. In this arrangement the anterior canal of one side of the head is in the plane of the posterior canal of the other side. A ridge, or crista, covered by sensory hair cells is located at the end of each canal within an expanded chamber called the ampulla.
Rotation of the canals about an imaginary axis passing through the centre of each semicircle causes endolym-phatic fluid to flow toward or away from the crista, generating a force that bends the cilia by displacement of a gelatinous plate resting upon the hairs. The cells of the vertical canals are oriented in such a way that centrifugal movement away from the cristae depolarizes the hair cell membranes of the vertical canals, while the opposite applies to the horizontal canal.
Nerve Supply
As in the case of the utricle and saccule, some of the nerve fibres conveying information from the cells are constantly active. The hair cells receive nerve impulses from the brain (via efferent fibres) and send them to the central nervous system (via afferent fibres). Excitatory efferent fibres
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increase the sensitivity of the hair cells, while inhibitory fibres decrease sensitivity. This system gives the semicir-cular canals a plasticity that is essential to maintaining optimal activity under different environmental condi-tions—including such extraordinary states as space travel.
The vestibular apparatus is supplied by neurons that make up the vestibular portion of the vestibulocochlear, or eighth cranial, nerve. The somata, or cell bodies, of the afferent fibres lie in the vestibular ganglia near the end organ. Most of the nerve fibres pass from there to vestibu-lar nuclei in the pons, while others pass directly to the cerebellum. The efferent fibres of the vestibular nerve arise from nuclei in the pons.
Vestibular Functions
For vision to be effective, the retinal image must be sta-tionary. This can be achieved only by maintaining the position of the eyes relative to the Earth and using this as a stable platform for following a moving object. The ves-tibular system plays a critical part in this, mainly through complex and incompletely understood connections between the vestibular apparatus and the musculature of the eyes.
Rotation of the head in any direction is detected by the semicircular canals, and a velocity signal is then passed via the vestibular nuclei to the somatic and extraocular muscles. In the case of the eye muscles, the velocity signal reaching the brainstem is in some way integrated with impulses signaling the position of the eyes, thus ensuring that the eyes maintain their position relative to space and the observed object. This integration partly occurs in the vestibular nuclei, the source of secondary neurons des-tined for the extraocular muscle nuclei of both sides.
Vestibulo-Ocular Reflex
When the head is oscillated, the eyes maintain their posi-tion in space but move in relaposi-tion to the head. This so-called vestibulo-ocular reflex operates in both horizon-tal and vertical planes owing to the arrangement of the three semicircular canals, and it maintains such stability that the observed object does not oscillate until quite high velocities are attained. The other components of the ves-tibular system, the saccule and utricle, also contribute to the vestibulo-ocular reflex. Under normal circum-stances the otolith receptors cause torsional movement of the eyes. For example, tilting the head toward one shoulder results in counterrolling of the eyes, thereby sta-bilizing the image upon the retina. The two components of the vestibulo-ocular reflex interact, enabling appropri-ate eye movements to be generappropri-ated when both linear and angular accelerations are changing.
While the vestibulo-ocular reflex is the best under-stood of the vestibulo-motor connections, information from the vestibular receptors is also known to be passed via vestibular and other brainstem nuclei to the somatic musculature of the trunk and limbs. Through these path-ways, body posture is adjusted to counter acceleration forces applied to the vestibule. These reflexes are so important in maintaining vertical posture that severe short-term consequences on posture are seen if the ves-tibulocochlear nerve is cut.
Conscious Sensation
Besides maintaining input for the generation of motor reflexes, vestibular impulses reach consciousness and cre-ate a powerful sensation. A person being rotcre-ated knows
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when he or she is accelerating even in the absence of an object upon which the individual can fix his or her eyes.
This occurs because acceleration is the adequate stimulus for the semicircular canals. Similarly, information detected by the otoliths is brought readily to consciousness; for example, a person is aware when a darkened elevator accel-erates up or down. The pathways to the cerebral cortex, which mediate conscious sensation, are not fully known, but there is evidence that areas of the parietal and tempo-ral lobes receive connections via the thalamus.
An important aspect of vestibular physiology is the interaction of vestibular impulses, which signal changes of position, and impulses from other sensory receptors that signal changes in bodily movement. For example, when the head turns to one side about a vertical axis, not only is the horizontal canal of that side stimulated and that of the other side inhibited, but receptors in the neck joints and muscles are also stimulated, and the retina indicates movement if fixation is not maintained perfectly. This information is fed to the brain via sensory pathways in the spinal cord and various visual sensory systems. Therefore, within the vestibular nuclei of the pons, neurons that respond to acceleration signals from the semicircular canals receive impulses from other sources as well.
Other information from visual and spinal sensory systems passes to the cerebellum, which also receives direct impulses from the vestibular apparatus that bypass the vestibular nuclei. In this way the cerebellum has the opportunity to compare signals and assess the degree of mismatch between them. (Motion sickness is often gener-ated by a mismatch between the various inputs signaling orientation within space. People will frequently be sea-sick if they are below the deck of a boat and the visual system signals no movement while the vestibular system indicates motion.) The vestibulo-ocular reflex also may be
underactive, so that for a given head movement the eyes do not deviate sufficiently within the orbit and the observed object does not remain stationary upon the ret-ina. Thus, the image slips and cannot be seen clearly during movement. The cerebellum has the opportunity to detect this mismatch between the required position of the eyes with respect to the environment and the move-ment actually achieved. Through inhibitory connections to the vestibular nuclei, the cerebellum can then adjust the vestibulo-ocular reflex so that a more appropriate movement of the eyes is achieved with the next accelera-tion signal. In other words, there is a continual updating of the vestibulo-ocular reflex via the cerebellum or struc-tures associated with it.
A similar situation also obtains for somatosensory input from the spinal cord. A dramatic demonstration of short-term adaptation via the visual system occurs when someone wears glasses with prism lenses that reverse the perception of the environment in the horizontal plane, making everything appear upside down. The person is at first unable to move about because any rotation of the head results in apparent movement of the environment in the wrong direction. However, over a few days normal mobility gradually returns. During this time, the vestib-ulo-ocular reflex is at first diminished in amplitude and then is reversed. Removal of the prisms results in a rapid return to the normal state. These experiments are a pow-erful demonstration of the plasticity of the vestibulo-ocular reflex, which can continue functioning throughout life in spite of the various insults that befall it.
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T
he brain is constantly working to interpret informa-tion that it receives from the surrounding environment. Likewise, humans are constantly altering their behaviours in response to these interpretations.Human behaviour is largely guided by sensation and per-ception, and thus changes in environment and in the brain’s response to environmental inputs can in turn lead to alterations in behaviour.
The brain itself can also change—new neural connec-tions are developed and reinforced in response to new behaviours, such as learning to play an instrument or learning to read. In addition, when preexisting neural con-nections are no longer reinforced through use, the affected connections recede, thereby breaking neural pathways.
This phenomenon of neural change within the brain, known as neuroplasticity, is a relatively recent discovery.
For many years it was believed that the neurons in the brain were incapable of forming new connections and growing in response to new inputs. In the late 20th cen-tury, however, when scientists discovered that the human brain undergoes constant adaptation to environmental stimuli, there occurred a major shift in the neurosciences, with many studies coming to focus on how neural connec-tions are established and what factors infl uence their formation and their destruction.