6. Chapter 1 Vestibular System Part 1

Fundamental Neuroscience: Understanding Ourselves
NSCI 1001
Chapter 1. A Woman Perpetually Falling

The Vestibular System
(and an Introduction to plasticity)
Alfonso Araque
Department of Neuroscience
University of Minnesota
Email: araque@umn.edu
Phone: 612-806-3310
Norman Doidge, M.D.
• Psychiatrist and psychoanalyst
• Received his M.D. from University of Toronto
• Residency at Columbia University, NY
• Department of Psychiatry, University of Toronto
• Has won national and international awards in

psychoanalysis
Preface: Knowledge and Concepts
Theory of the “Unchanging Brain”
• Brain circuits are ‘hardwired’

• No neurons after birth
• Damage is permanent
• Repair is limited
Old and New Findings for “Neuroplasticity”

Neuroplasticity: the ability of the brain
to change and adapt by experience
• Learning and memory
• Psychotherapy
• Improvement following injury
Ranging from limited to pronounced
• Genes are turned on/off with thinking,
learning and acting
Preface: Knowledge and Concepts
Hardwired and Plastic? A convergence of theories
Reproducibility vs. Adaptation
Both essential for success
Both work together in the

normal functioning of the
nervous system
How the brain receives information from the external world
SENSE STIMULUS
Sight Electromagnetic
Hearing Mechanical
Taste Chemical
Smell Chemical
Touch Mechanical
Vestibular Mechanical
Proprioception Mechanical
Neurons (and receptor cells) transduce physical and chemical stimuli

into electrical signals
The external world is represented in the brain by action potentials

The Vestibular System: Balance and Coordination
Chapter 1: A Woman Perpetually Falling…
• Routine hysterectomy in 1997 at 39 years old
• Given the antibiotic gentamicin

• Excessive amounts known to cause hearing
loss, ringing in the ears, a loss of balance
• ~2% of vestibular system remaining

Cheryl Schiltz
• Lost sense of balance
Angela Walker, BS Neuroscience UMN

Additional roles of the Vestibular System:
• Perception of movement
• Head position
• Visual Stabilization
• Gravitational Pull
Temporary disruption of the Vestibular System
DIZZY BAT: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hL9tBnDn2ts

Before we get to the HOW,
let’s talk about the WHERE.
The Inner Ear. Two functions:
1) Hearing and 2) Vestibular sense (balance and orientation)
(1) Eardrum
(6) Auditory nerve
(2) Malleus
(7) Vestibular nerve
(3) Incus Inner ear bones
(8) Vestibular ganglion
(4) Stapes
(9) cochlea
(5) Semicircular canals
Vestibular System
To Brain
Hearing
Vestibular System
To Brain
Hearing
Endolymph (fluid) fills Semicircular canals
One semicircular canal per orientation (x,y,z)

Hair Cells: Sensory cells of the vestibular system
Sterocilia
Kinocilium
Neurotransmitter
Vesicles
vs.
Activation of Hair Cells: Physical movement in a salt solution
Sterocilia
move towards
kinocilium
Activation of Hair Cells: Physical movement in a salt solution
Vestibular Neuron
Hair Cells respond to One Direction (sterocilia kinocilium)
Hair cells in each semicircular canal are aligned → respond to one direction
One semicircular canal per

direction in the space (x,y,z)
Three semicircular canals to

determine direction in space
The Neural Pathway for the Vestibular Sense
Somas of vestibular neurons are

located in the Scarpa´s ganglion
Dendrites of vestibular neurons contact
the base of hair cells
Axons of vestibular neurons form the
vestibular nerve to make synaptic
contacts with neurons in the vestibular
nucleus in the brain stem
Hair cell
Soma of Soma of neuron in

vestibular neuron vestibular nucleus
Cerebellum
Cerebral cortex
Sensory organ Vestibular nucleus
Eye muscles
(inner ear) Brain stem
Motor centers to control
head and body muscles
The Vestibular-Ocular Reflex:
Reflex eye movement that stabilizes images during head movement by
producing eye movement in the opposite
direction of head movement
Direction of rotation
“She’d turn her head, and the whole room would move.”
“Everything I see bounces like a bad amateur video”

Cheryl Schiltz
“By any conventional standard, Cheryl’s case is a hopeless one.

The conventional view sees the brain as made up of a group of specialized
processing modules, genetically hardwired to perform specific functions. Once one
of them is damaged, it can’t be replaced.”
“But today all that is about to be challenged.”

Paul Bach-y-Rita (1934-2006)
“We see with our brains, not with our eyes”
“Then he told me something that completely changed my life. He said, the problem with
you is that you have eyes, so you think you can “see” with them.”
Rodolfo Llinas, on an early discussion with a blind man who was able to draw his
environment.
Paul Bach-y-Rita and Sensory Substitution
Electrical Stimulation of the tongue:
Providing Vestibular Information
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7s1VAVcM8s8

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Fundamental Neuroscience: Understanding Ourselves

Chapter 1. A Woman Perpetually Falling

• Psychiatrist and psychoanalyst

• Received his M.D. from University of Toronto

• Residency at Columbia University, NY

• Department of Psychiatry, University of Toronto

• Has won national and international awards in

Theory of the “Unchanging Brain”

• Brain circuits are ‘hardwired’

Old and New Findings for “Neuroplasticity”

Hardwired and Plastic? A convergence of theories

Reproducibility vs. Adaptation

Both essential for success

Both work together in the

Neurons (and receptor cells) transduce physical and chemical stimuli

The external world is represented in the brain by action potentials

Chapter 1: A Woman Perpetually Falling…

• Routine hysterectomy in 1997 at 39 years old

• Given the antibiotic gentamicin

• ~2% of vestibular system remaining

Angela Walker, BS Neuroscience UMN

Additional roles of the Vestibular System:

DIZZY BAT: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hL9tBnDn2ts

Endolymph (fluid) fills Semicircular canals

One semicircular canal per orientation (x,y,z)

One semicircular canal per

Three semicircular canals to

Somas of vestibular neurons are

Soma of Soma of neuron in

“Everything I see bounces like a bad amateur video”

“By any conventional standard, Cheryl’s case is a hopeless one.

“But today all that is about to be challenged.”

“We see with our brains, not with our eyes”

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