Question: Why do I feel dizzy when I spin?

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  1. Dear Sarahb: You have many good questions! I think dizziness when you spin has something to do with ‘cochlea’ in your ear. ‘Cochlea is a spiral-shaped, fluid-filled inner ear structure’ . While you spin and after spin for a while, it couldn’t come to balance and you feel dizziness.

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  2. In your inner ear, there is a series of 3 semicircular canals that contain small hair-like nerve cells and a fluid called endolymph. When you move, the liquid moves too, and this movement is sensed by the hair cells, which then send a message to your brain that you are moving. After moving at the same speed in the same direction for a while, the endolymph catches up, and travels at the same speed as you, so it stops stimulating the nerve cells. When you stop moving, the liquid takes a little bit longer to come to a stop, a bit like when brake suddenly on your bike, and come off your seat towards the handle bars. This is inertia.

    Get a container, half fill it with water, and stir in circles with a spoon. Then take the spoon out. The water keeps spinning in circles, even though the spoon has stopped moving, though it eventually slows down, and stops. This is what happens to the liquid in your inner ear.when you spin, the endolymph spins with you, but when you stop, it wants to keep going. The way the liquid moves against the nerve cells tells the brain that you are still moving, even though the rest of your body is telling the brain it is not, and this is what causes you to feel dizzy. The dizziness goes away once the endolymph gets back in sync with your body.

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  3. Did you know that your alot of your balance is controlled by small “hairs” in you inner ear that are actually nerve cells. They form part of the vestibular system, which is three semicircular canals that are at right angles to each other lined by these hairs. These canals are filled with a thick fluid called endolymph. When you move your head the endolymph follows the law of inertia (ie it wants to stay still but everything around it is moving), so this stimulates the “hairs”/nerves cells, which send a signal to your brains to tell you your head has moved! Pretty cool hey – all this happens in a split second

    When you spin the endolymph slowly starts to move in the same direction you are spinning, and once it catches up to the rate you’re spinning it doesn’t stimulate the nerve cells any more. This lets our brain quickly adapt to the signals its getting (its why you dont actually feel dizzy while you spin, only when you stop!). But once you stop spinning, the endolymph will keep moving because it is so thick and stimulate the nerve cells in the opposite direction, making youfeel like you are moving the other way – DIZZY!

    Once the endolymph stops moving and stops stimulating the hairs/nerve cells in your inner ear you will stop feeling dizzy.

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  4. Great question!

    The other scientists have already answered it really well!
    Check out this website
    https://science.howstuffworks.com/science-vs-myth/everyday-myths/question483.htm

    But I tried to find out why exactly we feel dizzy, but couldn’t find the answer. I suspect that the brain cells that get the signals from your inner ear are responsible for making you feel dizzy after spinning, but couldn’t really find a scientific answer!

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