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Vestibular System

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The Human Central Nervous System

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Abstract

The vestibular system provides information about the position and motion of the head in space. The receptive elements are the hair cells of the membranous labyrinth. These cells are located in the cristae ampullares of the ampullae of the semicircular canals and in the maculae of the utricle and the saccule. The first-order elements are bipolar neurons, the somata of which constitute the vestibular ganglion, located in the internal auditory meatus. The peripheral processes of these cells terminate on the hair cells. The central processes of the bipolar cells constitute the vestibular part of the eighth cranial nerve, which enters the brain stem at the level of the pontomedullary junction.

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(2008). Vestibular System. In: The Human Central Nervous System. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-540-34686-9_17

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