Last night we had Banzai Blitz! Woo Hoo! I, of course, hang out with the coolest Banzai group: Banzai6! We ended up doing a relay where you lean over with your forehead touching a stick or something, and spin around it many times. Then you attempt to run straight (not an option for me) to loop around something and run back to your team. I provide zero help other than comic relief for my team. I got to thinking, why do some people really get dizzy while others do not. The answer may be more than you want to know, but since I am a visual person, I need enough details to paint a picture for me to get the answer. I thought it was intersting and found this answer on http://www.sciencebuddies.org/mentoring/project_ideas/HumBeh_p025.shtml. Hope this is acurate. Here you go:
Sensation of motion primarily comes from a series of fluid-filled tubes within the vestibular system called the semicircular canals. These small, enclosed loops embedded within both sides of the skull help us sense the direction, angle, and speed we are moving whether we're going up, down, forward, backwards, or turning in circles. The semicircular canals detect motion using the fluid inside the canals and microscopic hair-like nerve endings that line the inner surface of the canals. When we are sitting still, the fluid and hairs are basically at rest. When we begin a motion like a turn, the liquid begins to sway inside the loops and triggers the hairs to send nerve signals to regions of the brain that recognize and interpret the initial motion. As we continue to turn, as in a series of rapids spins, the fluid picks up speed (angular momentum) within the canals and, because of inertia, continues to move and send signals to the brain even after we have come to an abrupt stop.
Works for me. Learned something new today!
