Editing Ear (section)

===Balance===
{{Main|Balance (ability)|Equilibrioception}}
Providing balance, when moving or stationary, is also a central function of the ear. The ear facilitates two types of balance: static balance, which allows a person to feel the effects of [[gravity]], and dynamic balance, which allows a person to sense acceleration.

Static balance is provided by two ventricles, the utricle and the saccule. Cells lining the walls of these ventricles contain fine filaments, and the cells are covered with a fine gelatinous layer. Each cell has 50–70 small filaments, and one large filament, the [[kinocilium]]. Within the gelatinous layer lie [[otolith]]s, tiny formations of [[calcium carbonate]]. When a person moves, these otoliths shift position. This shift alters the positions of the filaments, which opens [[ion channel]]s within the cell membranes, creating [[depolarisation]] and an [[action potential]] that is transmitted to the brain along the vestibulocochlear nerve.<ref name=HALL2005 /><ref>{{cite book|last=Hall|first=Arthur C. Guyton, John E.|title=Textbook of medical physiology|year=2005|publisher=W.B. Saunders|location=Philadelphia|isbn=978-0-7216-0240-0|pages=692–694|edition=11th}}</ref>

Dynamic balance is provided through the three semicircular canals. These three canals are orthogonal (at right angles) to each other. At the end of each canal is a slight enlargement, known as the [[osseous ampullae|ampulla]], which contains numerous cells with filaments in a central area called the [[ampullary cupula|cupula]]. The fluid in these canals rotates according to the momentum of the head. When a person changes acceleration, the inertia of the fluid changes. This affects the pressure on the cupula, and results in the opening of ion channels. This causes depolarisation, which is passed as a signal to the brain along the vestibulocochlear nerve.<ref name=HALL2005 /> Dynamic balance also helps maintain eye tracking when moving, via the [[vestibulo-ocular reflex]].