Semicircular Canal Size and Shape Influence on Disorientation

Aerospace Medicine and Human Performance
Bob Cheung, William Ercoline

Abstract

Orientation in a 3-dimensional environment increases demands on the vestibular system. The anterior, lateral, and posterior semicircular canals sense pitch, roll, and yaw acceleration, respectively. The macular end organs sense linear acceleration and provide gravity reference. Creatures that evolved to fly (birds) share the same sensory systems and probably the same limitations as creatures that did not evolve to fly. However, bird semicircular canals have been noted for their large size relative to body mass since 1907. A brief literature review was conducted regarding the morphological structure of the vestibular systems in birds, and their evolutionary and functional significance as compared to that in humans. For any given body mass, qualitatively more "agile" species have semicircular canals with larger radius of curvature. Specifically, the anterior and lateral canals were found to be preferentially larger than those of nonavian theropods and humans. Avian canals rarely approach circularity and all three canals typically undergo torsional excursions out of their respective planes. Increase in the length of the semicircular canal is associated with greater sensitivity to rotational stimuli. Highly maneuverable birds of pr...Continue Reading

Citations

Jan 31, 2020·Journal of Anatomy·Fabien Knoll, Soichiro Kawabe
Mar 4, 2020·ELife·Alessandro UrciuoliDavid M Alba
Jun 20, 2020·Applied Psychophysiology and Biofeedback·Álvaro Bustamante-Sánchez, Vicente Javier Clemente-Suárez

❮ Previous
Next ❯

Related Concepts

Related Feeds

Autoimmune Lymphoproliferative Syndrome

Autoimmune lymphoproliferative syndrome (ALPS) is a rare genetic disorder of abnormal lymphocyte survival caused by defective Fas mediated apoptosis. Discover the latest research on ALPS here.