ABSTRACT
The sense of balance is conferred by receptors which detect the position and motion of the head in space. The receptors are located in organs which are part of the inner ear located in a hollow vestibule and three semicircular canals within the petrous portion of the temporal bone. Conscious perception of balance is normally overshadowed, except when head acceleration is high, by visual and proprioceptive cues to head position and motion. Within the bony labyrinth which contains all the inner ear structures lies the membranous labyrinth, a sensory epithelium subserving hearing and balance. The vestibular labyrinth, concerned with balance, consists of two otolith organs, the utricle and saccule and three semicircular ducts. The pathway for conscious perception of balance are axons of the inferior vestibular nucleus which cross to the contralateral side, ascend close to the medial lemniscus to terminate in the ventral posterior thalamus.
