Chapter 5 : Causes of balance disorders

Man has developed a very sophisticated system by which he maintains perfect equilibrium. Sensory information from the eyes and the vestibular apparatus, together with proprioceptive information from the neck and the limbs, passes into the central nervous system where, at the level of the vestibular nuclei, it is integrated and modulated by activity arising in the cerebellum, the extrapyramidal system and the cortex (Diagram 5.1). Pathology affecting the cardiovascular system, the central nervous system, the eyes, the ears, the locomotor system, the blood and the endocrine glands may all alter this fine balance of neural information and result in dysequilibrium.