Answer 1:
That's a great question. We have what's
called a vestibular system in our inner ear that
helps our bodies know if we're standing, lying
down, moving, etc. It's important for our brain
to know these things so that we can be
coordinated and balanced (imagine trying to walk
properly if you couldn't tell which direction
was up or down!). Dizziness should definitely
affect hand-eye coordination because your body
wouldn't be able to correctly orient itself to
conduct synchronized motion. A lot of what we
perceive about the world depends on how our
brain interprets it; if your brain thinks you're
spinning, and has you seeing the world as if it
were spinning, I don't think you'd be able to,
for example, successfully shoot a basketball in
a hoop.
Here's some more information specifically on
why we get dizzy. There are canals in our ear
that allow us to sense motion, and these canals
are filled with endolymph (fluid) and hair cells
(cells that send sensory information to the
brain). When you move your head, the endolymph
moves the hair cells, which then send
information to the brain to interpret what kind
of movement that is (e.g. "Oh, the hair cells
are moving at this angle, so this must mean the
head is turned to the right!").
When you spin, the endolymph moves in the
same direction of your spinning; when you stop
spinning, the endolymph continues to move,
stimulating hair cells to send signals to the
brain. The brain takes these signals and
interprets them as the head is still spinning,
even though you have stopped moving. This is why
we get dizzy! When the endolymph finally settles
and sits still, the brain doesn't receive any
more spinning signals so you don't feel dizzy
anymore.
I'm not sure if longer spinning would make
you feel dizzy for a longer period of time;
perhaps spinning faster would cause the
dizziness to last longer because a slower motion
of endolymph will settle back to normal faster
than the speedy endolymph. You should try this
out as a mini experiment!
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Answer 2:
That's a good question. Dizziness is caused
by your vestibular system (which senses motion)
being out of time with your true motion. You
sense motion using 3 semicircular canals in your
ears that are at right angles to each other.
They contain a fluid (endolymph) and hair-like
sensory nerve cells. When your head is moving
(e.g. by spinning), the endolymph fluid moves at
a slower rate (due to inertia), which stimulates
those sensory nerves, which send signals to the
brain that you are moving in a certain
direction.
When you stop suddenly, your brain still thinks
you re spinning because the fluid is still
moving... and you feel dizzy until the fluid
stops moving and your brain has the signal that
you are still. This would affect hand eye
coordination until the dizziness passes, because
your mind thinks the body is in motion. So the
more the fluid is moving (the faster the spin)
at the time you stop, the longer it will take
for the dizziness to pass.
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