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Aha! I'm not so dizzy . . .
Feb. 3rd, 2007 12:50 pmThere is a local Saturday morning children's science show that I enjoy from time to time. One of the recent ones explored the question of why figure skaters don't seem to get dizzy when they spin. They took a regular person and had them sit in a spinning chair. After about 10 spins, they gave up. Standing up (or wobbling upright, anyway), they tried to walk a straight line and failed badly. Then they took a visiting figure skater -- one of the Olympic hopefuls, I think -- and had her sit in the spinning chair. After a hundred spins, they stopped the chair. She stood up, then walked immediately straight down the line. No problems!
So what is the difference? They outfitted both of their subjects with headset cameras watching their eyes and spun them again. The regular person's eyes flick back and forth while spinning. So do the figure skater's eyes. But when they stop spinning, the regular person's eyes continue to flick back and forth, even while they stand and try to walk. However, the figure skater's eyes stop immediately!
According to the explanation they gave, we have two methods of determining motion. One is eye movement, and the other is the inner ear. When we spin, the eyes flick, trying to keep up, and the inner ear provides the same hint. When we stop, the inner ear keeps telling us we are moving! And for normal people, we keep our eyes flicking, trying to compensate -- which makes us dizzy, because the motion has actually stopped. However, the figure skater has learned to ignore or suppress the inner ear impulse, allowing her to stop her eye movement immediately -- and avoid the dizziness and wobbles. So it is a learned response, suppressing some of the normal reactions.
And that's why figure skaters don't get dizzy. So if you want to avoid getting dizzy, just spend a lot of time spinning, so that you can learn what to pay attention to when you stop.
So what is the difference? They outfitted both of their subjects with headset cameras watching their eyes and spun them again. The regular person's eyes flick back and forth while spinning. So do the figure skater's eyes. But when they stop spinning, the regular person's eyes continue to flick back and forth, even while they stand and try to walk. However, the figure skater's eyes stop immediately!
According to the explanation they gave, we have two methods of determining motion. One is eye movement, and the other is the inner ear. When we spin, the eyes flick, trying to keep up, and the inner ear provides the same hint. When we stop, the inner ear keeps telling us we are moving! And for normal people, we keep our eyes flicking, trying to compensate -- which makes us dizzy, because the motion has actually stopped. However, the figure skater has learned to ignore or suppress the inner ear impulse, allowing her to stop her eye movement immediately -- and avoid the dizziness and wobbles. So it is a learned response, suppressing some of the normal reactions.
And that's why figure skaters don't get dizzy. So if you want to avoid getting dizzy, just spend a lot of time spinning, so that you can learn what to pay attention to when you stop.
