Let me start off by cursing the search feature on this forum that makes me wait to re-search. I really do want to make sure that this topic has not been covered but the forum makes me wait two minutes between searches.
That sucks out loud.
Anyhoo…
I read that humans get dizzy from spinning because inside our ear there is fluid called endolymph which starts spinning when we start spinning and takes a while to stop.
That sounds like crap to me. Little things like fluidstuff in ears are too small to maintain momentum, IMHO.
I would think that it is more our bodies trying to keep up with the balance shifts vs what we are seeing that causes the dizziness. I am trying to phrase this in a way that others can grasp. I mean the sensory receptors in our inner ears, vs. what our eyes see, vs what our legs/feet are saying. Trying to adjust and still process any disparities would cause dizziness, I think. It’s not the best explanation, hopefully someone else can do a better job of it soon.
Adding, I think my explantion is at least partially on the right track, due to the technique that ballet dancers use, of keeping their eyes fixed on a spot, and only whipping their head around at the last possible moment.
I grasp how the work, from having read quite a few articles in science magazines over the years that dealt with balance, but I am not confidant I can explain it to another. This Wikipedia article is decent though. If I could recall the names of the articles I’ve read I’d try to search for them. One article in Discovery touched on the inner ear when talking about a treatment a neurologist was using on some of his patients. Pouring cold water into one (I think it was the left one) ear would temporarily cause the patient to behave normally. I think it was patients who had a disorder in which they denied that one of their limbs (often a hand) is theirs, instead they claim it is someone else’s hand. I believe they had all had a specific kind of stroke in a certain area of the brain too.
And I see I wasn’t exactly wrong, but my explanation was wanting too. I guess by fixating on a set point while pirouetting, the disorientation brought on by eye movement is cut?
Ok, here is a “how to” guide on doing a pirouette. And here is a video that shows someone doing pirouettes, that shows via slow motion the head movement. (ETA: Notice how her body moves, but the head doesn’t till the last second?) The scene from White Nights in which Barishnikov’s character wins the bet is another one where you can percieve the head movement, but it is FAST!
Paging Qadgop the Mercotan, can you explain it better than I, please? It isn’t that I am incorrect I feel, so much as I am not sure I’ve concretely explained it well enough. I can pass on some comprehension, but not complete understanding.
According to research reported by American Academy of Otolaryngology dizziness, or vertigo, results from conflicting signals from the various parts of the total balance system. When you spin around you set the fluid in the inner ear moving. Then when you stop your eyes tell that you have stopped but there is still some residual fluid motion telling you you are turning. Vertigo results. Yes the fluid doesn’t have a lot of inertia but my guess is that initial disconnect between what your eyes say and what your inner ear says results in a transient pulse to the balance system which takes time to settle down. This guess is probably off in details but I think that vertigo results from something along those lines.
Vertigo has been studied deeply and for a long time. It is of vital importance to aircraft pilots because it is a potential hazard in instrument flight. Despite what anyone tells you, it is impossible to fly by feel in instrument conditions. You must, do your hear me? MUST, trust your instruments and act according to what they tell you.