 |
 |
Hi Don, I tried to send this to you off list, but got it back with some explanation that it had gone through "too many hops." Oh well, I need to hop along. Here is a short piece on vision, the inner ear and falling. Regards, WHH 55/19 In a message dated 11/18/98 3:45:20 PM Central Standard Time, [log in to unmask] writes: << << any how when you close your eyes do you tened to fall down or is it just me? dumb ? i do have a stool to sit on but just wash your face lolo >> Don, you have touched on an area that my former job qualifies me to answer. The reason you fall when you close your eyes is that your brain is able to use visual ques to tell you when you are starting to tip over. The normal organ responsible for that task (warning of a tip over) is the semicircular canal system of your inner ears. In PD, we lose sensory information as well as the ability to move. When you close your eyes, you remove that extra bit of incoming information,. Your ears fail you, and your brain does not have enough information to keep your balance. A similar thing happens to pilots flying in the clouds --for a different reason. Their non-diseased balance organs give them false information based on the various g-forces on the aircraft. If they are in clouds, they have no visual references to help them. That is why we make artificial horizon information available in a ball shaped instrument. Those pilots that use the artificial horizon well do not get into trouble. Those that try to go by the "seat of their pants" find that unreliable and get into difficulties Regards WHH >>