LABYRINTH AND CORTEX

Abstract

The labyrinth not only is a sense organ which regulates the equilibrium through many reflexes on striated muscles but is one of the most important receptors for the perception of position and movements. Even if optic impulses are shut out and disturbances of equilibrium are prevented by fixation of the head and of the body on the rotating chair, stimulation of the semicircular canals by rotation produces typical perceptions and delusions of movement and position (Fischer and Kornmüller¹). Labyrinthine impulses are able even to alter sensations which take origin in other receptors, for instance, tactile sensations. A person sitting in a Bárány chair and touching the floor with the foot immediately after rotation believes that the foot moves on the ground (Tastschwindel, Purkinje²). This example shows that a cortical process such as the perception of a tactile sensation is modified by stimulation of the labyrinth. Furthermore, impulses from