Body Position & Movement Your Kinesthetic And Vestibular Sense

Kinesthetic Sense The system for sensing the position and movement of individual body parts is called kinesthesis. It provides constant sensory feedback about what the muscles in your body are doing. Receptors for kinesthesis reside in joints, muscles, and tendons. These receptors are usually automatic, unless the person is learning a new skill. One’s leg “falling asleep” is a disruption of the kinesthetic sense.

Kinesthetic Sense Stretch out all of your fingers of one hand except your middle finger. Tuck your middle finger up under your hand. Place your hand on the desk top with your fingers touching the top. Try wiggling your fingers. Why can’t you lift your ring finger? Your middle finger and ring finger share the same tendon.

Kinesthetic Sense Test your current kinesthetic sense with the few simple exercises below. Evaluate how challenging each task is for you. Keep a slight bend in your knees during all activities. 1. Stand on both feet with proper posture (chest up, shoulders back, ears in line with shoulders) for 10 seconds. 2. Stand on one foot maintaining proper posture for 5 seconds. 3. Stand on both feet maintaining proper posture with your eyes closed for 5 seconds. 4. Stand on one foot maintaining proper posture with your eyes closed for 5 seconds. 4

Vestibular Sense The system for sensing body orientation and balance is called vestibular. It monitors your head’s and body’s position and responds to changes in gravity, motion, and body position. Equilibrium produced in the inner ear in the fluid filled semicircular canals and vestibular sacs. The fluid moves when our head rotates or tilts. Hair-like receptors inside are stimulated by this movement and send messages to the brain. Motion sickness may be caused by discrepancies between visual information and vestibular sensation.

Vestibular Sense

Vestibular Sense Vision also plays a role. When visual info conflicts with the vestibular system, result can be dizziness, disorientation, and nausea. This happens with motion sickness. Stand on one leg and balance. Now close your eyes. Was it more difficult? Stand on your Right Foot. Close your Left Eye. Look at something with your Right Eye. Gently press your index finger on the Eyelid of the Right Eye pushing it toward your nose. What happens? Spinning around and stopping fast causes the fluid and receptors to continue moving for a few seconds, tricking the brain into thinking you are still spinning.

The Skin Senses Skin is the largest sense organ There are receptors for pressure, temperature, and pain Touch appears to be important not just as a source of information, but as a way to bond with others Touch localization depends on the relative lengths of the pathways from the stimulated parts to the brain