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Timothy C. Hain, MD 
Last modified:
January 5, 2008
We live in a three dimensional world and thus we can rotate along the three axes that define our world.
Roll
Pitch
Yaw
The inner ear must be able to register rotation about these three axes. The three semicircular canals -- the anterior, posterior and lateral canals, are arranged nearly perpendicularly in order to measure rotation in 3D space.
Although the canals are arranged nearly perpendicularly, there is not a canal for roll, for pitch and for yaw, but rather the canals register a mixture of these axes, which are resolved in the brain into meaningful coordinates.
| © Copyright May 22, 2008 , Timothy C. Hain, M.D. All rights reserved. Last saved on May 22, 2008 |