Ho Ho Piers!
Yes, but at least you have a light at the end. The eyes provide one of
the strongest cues of balance.
In fact this is apparently why people suffer from motion sickness: the
eyes provide a strong balance cue, but if for some reason your visual
assessment of the world and your semi-circular canals do not agree,
messages of the upset go to your vomit centre...
... all of which comes back to your picture of someone bouncing down a
corridor with few visual cues and a dysfunctional balance mechanism; it
sounds like someone heading home late at night after a few beers!
Chris
On 21 Nov 2004, at 18:45, Piers Hemy wrote:
>
> "The leans" can be a ground-based affliction too! As John Lind has
> pointed
> out, balance uses not just the semi-circular canals, but feedback from
> musculature (especially feet) and eyes. A wide field of view helps to
> 'position' the body in its surroundings. Now, imagine having the
> semi-circular canals out of operation (or not to be trusted) while you
> walk
> down a long dark corridor with a light at the end. Bouncing off the
> walls
> after over-correcting for navigational errors due to lack of visual
> clues as
> to position!
>
> Interesting how flight problems can be paralleled in such basic
> land-bound
> functions!
>
> --
> Piers
<|_:-)_|>
C M I Barker
Cambridgeshire, Great Britain.
+44 (0)7092 251126
http://www.threeshoes.co.uk
http://homepage.mac.com/zuiko
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