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Balance and Motion

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Encyclopedia of Evolutionary Psychological Science

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Synonyms

Vestibular system

Definition

The vestibular system of the inner ear contains various structures responsible to keep the person’s balance and posture

Introduction

The balance system, otherwise called vestibular system, is a complex system with many structures. These are the bony labyrinth, the membranous labyrinth of the inner ear, the cerebellum, the eyes, the brain cortex, and the muscles and joints which connect to the brainstem known as the vestibular nuclei (Munir and Clarke 2013; Chang and Khana 2013).

The Vestibular System

The vestibular system contains two structures known as the macula and crista ampullaris; these are sensory neuroepithelium (Chang and Khana 2013). They consist of sensory mechanoreceptors called hair cells contained in a neuroepithelium membrane. Russel and Sellick (1978) are credited with being the first to study the mammalian inner cells. The job of these cells is to distribute the movements of the cochlea partition to the central nervous system for...

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. University of Nicosia, Nicosia, Cyprus

    Michael Khalil

Authors
  1. Michael Khalil
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychology, Oakland University, Rochester, Michigan, USA

    Todd K. Shackelford

  2. Rochester, Michigan, USA

    Viviana A. Weekes-Shackelford

Section Editor information

  1. University of Nicosia, Nicosia, Cyprus

    Menelaos Apostolou

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Khalil, M. (2018). Balance and Motion. In: Shackelford, T., Weekes-Shackelford, V. (eds) Encyclopedia of Evolutionary Psychological Science. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-16999-6_992-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-16999-6_992-1

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-16999-6

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-16999-6

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