Why Dancers Don’t Get Dizzy By, Lauren Miller

Ballet Dancers Doing Fouette

What Causes Dizziness? O The organs in the inner ear O They are fluid filled and have tiny hairs O When you move your head rapidly the fluid sloshes around and the tiny hairs sense them O The fluid keeps moving when you stop and the hairs sense this O This is why you feel dizzy

Spotting O Dancers look for something on the wall at eye level O As they turn they keep their eyes on it as long as they can O They return to the object the second they turn this is called spotting

Spotting

Research O Scientists wanted to know if it was the spotting that stops dancers from getting dizzy O What they did was to put dancers and rowers from Imperial College in a dark room and had them spin around in a chair O They were asked to turn a handle when they felt dizzy after they stopped

Research II O The scientists also measured eye reflexes O Later, they examined brain structure with MRI’s

Findings O In dancers, both eye reflexes and the feeling of spinning and dizziness lasted much shorter than the rowers O Brain scans showed differences in the rowers and dancers brains in both the cerebellum and the cerebral cortex

Findings O The cerebellum was smaller in dancers scientists think because they rely heavily on coordinated and pre-programmed movements and that over years of practice the brain adapts (a reflex) O The cerebral cortex adapts over years of practice to suppress the sensation of dizziness- perhaps through the input of spotting ( a sensation)

So.. O Spotting and repeated practice are the reasons why dancers don’t get dizzy!