• Question: Why do I feel dizzy when I spin?

    Asked by shannonlouise123 to James, Marcus, Martin, Rob, Suzanne on 19 Mar 2012.
    • Photo: Martin Zaltz Austwick

      Martin Zaltz Austwick answered on 19 Mar 2012:

      You have tubes in your ears called semicircular canals that help to tell you which way is up and down. When you spin around a lot, they get messed around with somehow – I think probably the liquid in them gets swirled around and that confuses your brain, which can’t work out which way is down!

    • Photo: Robert Thompson

      Robert Thompson answered on 19 Mar 2012:

      Nice answer from Martin there, I didn’t know that

    • Photo: Marcus Gallagher-Jones

      Marcus Gallagher-Jones answered on 20 Mar 2012:

      Yes Martin is on the money. There are three of these canals in the ear that are at right angles to each other. They are full of a fluid called endolymph fluid and many tiny hairs. As you move the fluid moves across particular hairs which send signals to the brain and these are used to figure out your position in space. When you spin the fluid will slosh within these canals and multiple hairs will be stimulated continuously. This sends conflicting signals to the brain and you can’t figure out how you are orientated, the sensory overload is called dizziness.

    • Photo: Suzanne McEndoo

      Suzanne McEndoo answered on 20 Mar 2012:

      Yup, what Martin and Marcus said. It’s part of the same thing that makes people travel sick, particularly when reading. Your ears are telling your brain one thing about how you’re moving, but your eyes are giving you different information.

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