1

Neural and Hormonal Control of

Human Systems

Lecture 3:
Vestibular System (chapter 14)
Vestibular System
 Vestibular System
The vestibular system provides the CNS with information:

• Head mvt and

position
• Gaze stabilization
• Postural adjustments
• Autonomic function
and consciousness
 Vestibular system
The vestibular system determines the position and motion of
your head in space.
• Detecting head rotation:
– What happens when you shake or nod
your head?
– This is called angular acceleration
(detected by semicircular canals)
• Detecting motion along a line
– What happens when the elevator drops
beneath you or when your body begins
to lean to one side?
– This is called linear acceleration
• The vestibular system has two receptor  The size of a penny
organs to accomplish these tasks
 The morphological polarization of vestibular hair cells and polarization maps of the vestibular organs

- Stereocilia bend towards

kinocilia, cell is active VS.
stereocilia bends in
opposite direction, cell is
off
- At base of each
semicircular canal, you
have receptor = ampulla
- Ampulla contains hair
bundles oriented in the
same direction (arrows, all
react in the same fashion
since polarization is the
same)
- Sacculus and utricle: do
not have the same
orientation (arrows point in
diff directions)

FIGURE 14.2  (A) A cross section of hair cells shows that the kinocilia of a group of hair cells are all
located on the same side of the hair cell. The arrow indicates the direction of deflection that
depolarizes the hair cell. (B) View looking down on the hair bundles. (C) In the ampulla located at
the base of each semicircular canal, the hair bundles are oriented in the same direction. In
the sacculus and utricle, the striola divides the hair cells into populations with opposing
hair bundle polarities.
 Calcium carbonate crystals (otoconia) in the utricular macula of a quail

 Crystals provide weight that pushes on receptors

With aging:
 Break free and travel into semicircular canal causing
dizziness
Degeneration of these
crystals can lead to

Benign paroxysmal
positional vertigo (BPPV)

One of the most common

causes of vertigo — the
sudden sensation that you're
spinning or that the inside of
your head is spinning. FIGURE 14.3  Calcium carbonate crystals (otoconia) in
the utricular macula of a quail. Each otoconium in this
scanning electron micrograph is about 50 m long. (From
Dickman et al., 2004.)
 Morphological polarization of hair cells in the utricular maculae

- Kinocilia point
towards striola, on
the right while the
other side points to
the left
- When receptor is
tilted to one
direction, only have
the receptors are
activated

FIGURE 14.4  (A) Cross section of the utricular macula showing

hair bundles projecting into the gelatinous layer when the head is
level.
 Morphological polarization of hair cells in the utricular and saccular maculae

- When you tilt your

head, the weight of
excitation
crystals stretches the
membrane & deforms inhibition
the hair cells bend
towards striola &
stereocilia bend
towards kinocilia & on
other side stereocilia
bend away so
receptors are off

FIGURE 14.4  (B) Cross section of the utricular macula when the head is tilted. The hair
bundles are deflected by the otoconia in the direction of the gravitational force along the
macular plane. An equivalent linear acceleration opposite to this force would induce the same
deflection of the otoconia and is referred to as the equivalent acceleration.
 Morphological polarization of hair cells in the utricular and saccular maculae

FIGURE 14.4 (C) Orientation of the utricular and saccular maculae in the head; Arrows show
orientation of the kinocilia. The saccules on either side are oriented more or less vertically, and the
utricles more or less horizontally. The striola is a structural landmark consisting of small otoconia
arranged in a narrow trench that divides each otolith organ. In the utricular macula, the kinocilia
are directed toward the striola. In the saccular macula, the kinocilia point away from the striola.
Note that, given the utricle and saccule on both sides of the body, there is a continuous
representation of all directions of head movement.
 Forces acting on the head displace the otolithic
membrane of the utricular macula

FIGURE 14.5  For each of the positions and accelerations due to translational
movements, some set of hair cells will be maximally excited while another set
will be maximally inhibited. Note that head tilts produce displacements similar to
certain accelerations.
 Vestibular nerve axon from a utricle

Response of a vestibular nerve

axon from an otolith organ

FIGURE 14.6  Response of a vestibular

nerve axon from an otolith organ. The
utricle is the example shown here. (A) The
stimulus (top) is a change in head tilt. The
spike histogram shows the neuron’s response
to tilting in a particular direction. (B) A
response of the same fiber to tilting in the
opposite direction. (After Fernández and
Goldberg, 1976.)

- Resting discharge: 40 AP/s

- When you move your head so utricle &
macula fire: goes up to 100 AP/s until
you move your head back to neutral
position
- When stereocilia move in opposite
direction as kinocilia: 20 AP/s 
system is off
The ampulla of the posterior semicircular canal

The hair bundles extend out of the

crista into a gelatinous mass, the
cupula, that bridges the width of the
ampulla, forming a viscous barrier
through which endolymph cannot
circulate. As a result, movements of the
endolymphatic fluid distort the cupula

FIGURE 14.7  The crista, hair bundles,

and cupula are diagrammed. When the
head rotates, fluid in the membranous
canal distorts the cupula.
 Functional organization of the semicircular
canals
- When you rotate
the head, the
endolymph distorts
& changes the shape
 pushes the
cupula & system
turns off

FIGURE 14.8  (A) The position of the cupula without

angular acceleration. (B) Distortion of the cupula during
angular acceleration. When the head is rotated in the
plane of the canal (arrow outside canal), the inertia of the
endolymph creates a force (arrow inside canal) that
displaces the cupula.
Functional organization of the semicircular canals

 Detect rotational acceleration and

deceleration from the head
 Hair cells: sensitive to bending direction
 Bending toward the kinocilium = excitation
 Bending opposite to the kinocilium = inhibition

stereocilia kinocilium

Excitation (firing)

Inhibition

* Need acceleration: fluid lags

behind  pushes stereocilia
 Functional organization of the semicircular canals
* Know the matching: goes by axis of rotation
-Turn head to left = left side on & right side off
-Right anterior canal paired with left posterior canal

FIGURE 14.8  (C) Arrangement of the canals in pairs. The two horizontal canals
form a pair; the right anterior canal (AC) and the left posterior canal (PC) form a
pair; and the left AC and the right PC form a pair.
 VIDEO
SUMMARIZING
WHAT WE
HAVE SEEN SO
FAR
 Vestibulo-ocular reflex (VOR)
 Reflex, where activation of the FYOK
vestibular system of the inner ear
causes eye movement
 Goal: To stabilize images on the
retinas (when gaze is held steady
on a location) during head
movement by producing eye
movements that counter head
movements, thus permitting the
gaze to remain fixed on a
particular point
 VOR is activated for horizontal and
lateral head movements
 Loss of VOR = Oscillopsia or
‘Bouncing vision’
Vestibulo-Ocular Reflex in
Action

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rRDDKKqkdTg
 Central Vestibular System
 The two major cortical functions of the vestibular
system are:
1) Spatial orientation and 2) self-motion perception
 The Central Vestibular System is made up:
 4 nuclei (vestibular nuclei)

 6 pathways

 The vestibularcerebellum (eye movements +

posture)
 Cranial nerves:
III: oculomotor n.
Perception of head
IV: trochlear n.
Semi circular canals

orientation and movement: VI: abducens n.

Vestibulothalamocortical XI: accessory n.
pathways (green line on top)
Eye movements: medial
longitudinal fasciculus (black
line on the right)

Head movements: medial

Otolithic Organs

vestibulospinal through the XI

cranial nerve (red lines at the
bottom)
Postural control: medial and
lateral vestibulospinal (red
lines at the bottom)
Connections of the vestibular nuclei

Head
Mvt
Vestibular Role in Motor Control

Motion sickness:
conflictual info
between visual
& vestibular
systems