otolith

…particles of calcium carbonate, called otoliths. Motions of the head cause the otoliths to pull on the hair cells, stimulating another auditory nerve branch, the vestibular nerve, which signals the position of the head with respect to the rest of the body.

…particles of calcium carbonate, called otoliths, that weigh against the hairs. Unusual stimulation of the vestibular receptors and semicircular canals can cause sensory distortions in visual and motor activity. The resulting discord between visual and motor responses and the external space (as aboard a ship in rough waters) often leads…

The otolithic membrane is covered with a mass of minute crystals of calcite (otoconia), which add to the membrane’s weight and increase the shearing forces set up in response to a slight displacement when the head is tilted. The hair bundles of the macular hair cells…

…semicircular canals and the paired otolith organs participate in maintaining the body’s equilibrium and in the coordination of eye-head-body movements. These organs are stimulated continually by gravity and also by sudden linear accelerations. The eyes, by contrast, relay information to the brain about the body’s position and movement based on…

…rhombohedral crystals, referred to as otoconia or statoconia, which consist of calcium carbonate in the form of calcite. These crystalline particles, which range in length from 1 to 20 μm (1 μm = 0.000039 inch), are much denser than the membrane—their specific gravity is almost three times that of the…

…rhombohedral crystals, referred to as otoconia or statoconia, which consist of calcium carbonate in the form of calcite. These crystalline particles, which range in length from 1 to 20 m (1 m = 0.000039 inch), are much denser than the membrane and thus add considerable mass to it.

…stonelike calcium carbonate particles called otoconia. The otolithic membrane and otoconia bend the hairs in the direction of gravity, providing the animal with a vertical reference direction; similar organs of balance, known as statocysts, are common in invertebrates. Also in the inner ear of vertebrates are the three semicircular canals.…

…are embedded calcareous granules called otoliths. Changes in linear acceleration alter the pressure on the otoliths, causing displacement of the cilia and providing an adequate stimulus for membrane depolarization. Within each macula the hair cells are arranged in two groups oriented in opposite directions, so that the receptor functions in…

…with tiny sandlike granules called otoliths. The utricle functions as a linear accelerometer. When the head tilts relative to gravity or is accelerated, the relatively dense otoliths deflect the hair cells and nerve impulses are transmitted to the brain. At constant velocity the otoliths become stable, stimulation ceases, and a…

…ear, the grains being called otoliths. In either case, a change in the animal’s position or orientation is conveyed to the sense hairs by the pressure of the statoliths.

…of the three statolith (or otolith) organs. The statolith is surrounded by a gelatinous substance akin to the cupula of the lateral-line organs. In most higher vertebrates, the head moves rather flexibly because it is not rigidly connected to the trunk. Thus information coming from the utriculi has to be…

…the one between tissue and otolith; this is the discontinuity between the otolith and a gas bubble. Although there are varying anatomical methods of achieving it, the simplest arrangement, which is found in clupeids, mormyrids, labyrinthine fishes, and a few others, consists of a gas-filled sac that lies against one…