By Dora Angelaki and J. David Dickman, Baylor College of Medicine. The vestibular system functions to detect head motion and position relative to gravity and is primarily involved in the fine control of visual gaze, posture, orthostasis, spatial orientation, and navigation. Vestibular signals are highly processed in many regions of the brain and are involved in many essential functions. In this module, we provide an overview of how the vestibular system works and how vestibular signals are used to guide behavior.

This course introduces sensory systems and multi-sensory fusion using the vestibular and spatial orientation systems as a model. Topics range from end organ dynamics to neural responses, to sensory integration, to behavior, and adaptation, with particular application to balance, posture and locomotion under normal gravity and space conditions. Depending upon the background and interests of the students, advanced term project topics might include motion sickness, astronaut adaptation, artificial gravity, lunar surface locomotion, vestibulo-cardiovascular responses, vestibular neural prostheses, or other topics of interest.

The vestibular system is a sensory system that is essential to normal movement and equilibrium. In this video, I discuss the vestibular labyrinth---the primary structure of the vestibular system, which consists of the semicircular canals, ampullae, and otolith organs. All of these are essential to the vestibular system's ability to provide the brain with information about things like motion, head position, and spatial orientation.
Duration: 1:55.

Taste (gustation), smell (olfaction), and touch sensory and perceptual processes. Vestibular sense, proprioception, and kinesthesia are also briefly introduced. Duration: 2:39.