Vestibular System

“As we move and interact with gravity sensory receptors in the ear are activated, and impulses appraising the central nervous system about the positioning of the head in space are directed to various parts of the brain and down the spinal cord. It is believed that sensory impulses from the eyes, ears, muscles and joints must be matched to the vestibular input before such information can be reprocessed efficiently. If this is true, what we see, hear and feel makes sense only if the vestibular system is functioning adequately.” Pyter, J. Johnson, R. 1981

The vestibular system is the first sensory system to develop. It is visible at two months gestation and fully formed by the fifth month of gestation. It is one system that feeds input to the reticular activating part of the central nervous system, responsible for awareness it is sometimes referred to as the “wake up the brain system” allowing us to focus our attention. Electric stimulation of the Median Nerve also is used to wake up coma patients by stimulating the reticular system.