Page 54 - (DK) How to be a GENIUS?

Balance
Your inner ear contains three bony tubes that
form loops called semicircular canals. Each
tube ends in a bulge, or ampulla, containing
sensors that detect the movement of fluid
in the loop—which depends on your body’s
movement. Similar receptors called maculae
detect how upright you are. Your brain uses
these signals to correct your balance.
We normally think that we have five senses: sight,
hearing, taste, smell, and touch. But we also feel
things that do not seem related to a particular
sense. They are like an awareness of your body.
Most of these sensations affect your unconscious
mind, but that doesn’t make them unimportant.
Without your sense of balance, for example, you
could not stand upright.

Vestibular nerve
Motion sickness sensor data to
Delivers balance
Intense stimulation of your balance
your brain
sensors by something like a
roller-coaster ride can cause
motion sickness. This is made
worse if your eyes and ears
give your brain conflicting
information. Watching the horizon
enables the brain to make sense of
the movement, and may help.

Semicircular canals
s
Filled with fluid that
moves when your
body moves
Ampulla Macula
Contains sensors Has sensors that
that detect body detect whether you
movement are upright

Interna l organs
We are not usually aware of our internal organs,
ll
b but we all l get sensations from our stomachs.
Some are e vague feelings that mark the
e of food, but hunger pangs are more
passage
useful. Digestive problems can cause pain,
and oth er organs may also hurt if they are
ed or diseased. A disorder releases
damage
als that are detected by nerve endings
chemica
and rela yed to the brain as pain.

52
(c) 2011 Dorling Kindersley. All Rights Reserved.