otolith

(noun)

a small particle, comprised mainly of calcium carbonate, found in the inner ear of vertebrates, being part of the balance sense

Related Terms

Examples of otolith in the following topics:

  • Balance and Determining Equilibrium

    • The stereocilia of the hair cells extend into a viscous gel called the otolith.
    • The otolith contains calcium carbonate crystals, making it denser and giving it greater inertia than the macula.
    • Therefore, gravity will cause the otolith to move separately from the macula in response to head movements.
    • Tilting the head causes the otolith to slide over the macula in the direction of gravity.
    • The moving otolith layer, in turn, bends the sterocilia to cause some hair cells to depolarize as others hyperpolarize.

  • Development of Hearing and Balance

    • They contain the sensory hair cells and otoliths of the macula of utricle and of the saccule, respectively, which respond to linear acceleration and the force of gravity.

  • Additional Sensory Systems

    • There are two main components of the vestibulum: the semicircular canal system, which indicates rotational movements; and the otoliths, which indicate linear accelerations.

  • Sensory Modalities

    • The vestibular nerve also conducts information from the utricle and the saccule; these contain hair-like sensory receptors that bend under the weight of otoliths (small crystals of calcium carbonate) that provide the inertia needed to detect head rotation, linear acceleration, and the direction of gravitational force.