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Asked by to Andrei, Ekbal, Gemma, Helen, Ruth on 16 Jun 2014. This question was also asked by .
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Helen Gath answered on 16 Jun 2014:
Well, it’s not just our legs that help keep us standing up straight. There is a very sensitive organ in our ears with fluid in it, and this organ communicates with our brain to keep us balanced. Tiny little hairs inside this organ can sense the direction the fluid is moving, and relays this information to the brain so we can balance our body and limbs accordingly. For example, if you lean forwards, the fluid slushes forwards, the hairs feel this and tells our brain. Then our brain responds by making sure we balance our selves…and not fall on our faces.
When you spin round and round, you make the fluid also slosh round and round. Even though we may physically stop spinning, the fluid keeps swirling round. This means it keeps knocking the delicate hairs in all sorts of directions, and this information continues to be sent to the brain. It’s therefore very confusing because your ear is telling your brain you’re spinning, but you’re not!
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Ekbal Hussain answered on 16 Jun 2014:
Hi @Gargank,
I actually don’t know the details about this but I’ll try and answer your question.
There are certain parts of the inside of your ear that are in charge of your sense of balance. We can walk on two legs because this part of your body keeps track of your balance and helps you stay upright.
When you spin around the watery stuff inside these parts of your ear also move too and push against one side of your ear. When you stop spinning suddenly the watery stuff continues to move and gives you a false sense of movement. This is what we call dizziness.
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