The Great Balancing Act

An Insider's Guide to the Human Vestibular System
Erscheinungsjahr 2025
ISBN: 978-0-231-21863-4
Verlag: Columbia University Press

Buch, Englisch, 264 Seiten, Print PDF, Format (B × H): 140 mm x 216 mm

What’s the secret to keeping your balance? The ear does more than hear: it helps us stay stable by perceiving movements and gravity. Elegant sensors deep within the skull detect every twist, turn, and tumble, powering swift reflexes that keep vision and balance steady. This is the vestibular system. It’s primordial and ubiquitous: every animal has one, and even plants have a rudimentary version. It works so well that we take it for granted—until it fails. How does this remarkable system function? What happens when it goes haywire? How can modern medicine treat vestibular disease?

The Great Balancing Act tells the story of the vestibular system, from T. rex hearing organs to cochlear implants, and from the unsung power of hair cells to inner-ear problems in outer space. Combining neuroscience, history, and medicine, Jeffrey D. Sharon—a vestibular doctor and researcher—explains the sense of balance using accessible language and wry humor. He recounts how pioneering scientists solved the mysteries of the vestibular system and shows why it is necessary for spatial reasoning and abstract thought. Sharon explores the devastating consequences of vestibular problems such as vertigo, dizziness, and imbalance, offering an expert, patient-friendly look at emerging and future treatments. Engaging and entertaining, this book invites readers to discover a little-known yet vital part of ourselves.

Autoren/Hrsg.

Sharon, Jeffrey D.

Fachgebiete

• Naturwissenschaften Biowissenschaften Biowissenschaften
• Naturwissenschaften Biowissenschaften Humanbiologie
• Medizin | Veterinärmedizin Medizin | Public Health | Pharmazie | Zahnmedizin Vorklinische Medizin: Grundlagenfächer Physiologie
• Medizin | Veterinärmedizin Medizin | Public Health | Pharmazie | Zahnmedizin Vorklinische Medizin: Grundlagenfächer Anatomie
• Medizin | Veterinärmedizin Medizin | Public Health | Pharmazie | Zahnmedizin Klinische und Innere Medizin Neurologie, Klinische Neurowissenschaft

Inhaltsverzeichnis

Introduction: A Sense of Wonder
Part I. How We Got Here
1. An Aural History
2. How Cheetahs Prosper (Evolution)
Part II. How It All Works

3. A Head Full of Hair Cells

4. The Eyes Have It: Vestibulo-Ocular Reflex
5. The Brains Behind the Operation
6. Don’t Fall for It: Vestibulospinal Reflexes
7. A Balanced Mind: Memory and Cognition
Part III. When Things Go Wrong
8. Like a Rolling Stone: Benign Paroxysmal Positional Vertigo (BPPV)

9. Unsolved Mysteries: Vestibular Migraine and Ménière’s Disease

10. Senseless: Bilateral Vestibular Loss

11. A Hole in the Head: Superior Canal Dehiscence Syndrome
Part IV. The Future
12. Restoring a Sense of Balance: The Vestibular Implant
13. Vestibular Rogaine: Hair Cell Regeneration

14. Spacing Out
Part V. The Ending
15. Spinning Out of Control: Advice for Patients
Epilogue: Vestibular Dreaming
Illustrated Glossary
Notes
Bibliography
Index

Über Autor(innen)

Jeffrey D. Sharon is the director of the Balance and Falls Center and an associate professor in the Otology, Neurotology, and Skull Base Surgery Division at the University of California, San Francisco.