PHGY 209 Lecture Notes - Lecture 35: Semicircular Canals, Taste Bud, Saccule
21 Feb 2018
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Document Summary
The inner ear has three semicircular canals which provide a sense of angular rotation. Semicircular canals are a part of the inner ear which is a fluid filled cavity in the skull. In the amupla; flexible jello-like membrane housing the hair cells. When the head is rotated, the fluid in the canals have inertia. This causes cupula bending, which bends the stereocilia to activate the hair cells. Spinning- when you are spinning, the fluid eventually catches up to the cupula and they are spinning at the same rate. This tells your body that you are no longer spinning. However, when you stop the inertia forces the fluid to continue its path which activates the cupula. and. Hair cells lining the utricle and saccule are attached to the skull. Above the hair is fluid which have otoliths (rocks) that are floating.
