Skip to content
The American Academy of Audiology
  • Practice Resources
    • Practice Guidelines and Standards
    • Reimbursement
    • Coding
    • Compliance
    • Public Awareness
    • State Medicaid
    • Medicare FAQs
    • COVID-19 Resources
  • Education and Events
    • Event Calendar
    • AAA Annual Conference
    • Academy Research Conference (ARC)
    • Continuing Education
    • eAudiology Online Learning
    • Research Grants and Scholarships
  • News and Publications
    • Audiology Today
    • Newsroom
    • Journal of the American Academy of Audiology
    • Advertising
    • Audiology Solutions Network
    • Online Store
  • Careers
    • Career Center
    • Certification
    • Become an Audiologist
    • Doctoral Programs in Audiology
    • Recruiting
    • Resources for New Audiologists
  • Advocacy
    • Legislative and Regulatory Activities
      • State Affairs
      • Federal Affairs
    • Legislative Action Center
    • Government Relations News
  • About the Academy
    • Contact Us
    • Academy Membership
      • Benefits
      • Ethics
      • Member Directory
      • Membership Renewals
    • Leadership
    • Committees and Task Forces
    • Get Involved
    • Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion
    • Honors and Awards
    • Sponsorships and Corporate Partners
    • Press and Media Information
  • Audiology Community
  • Consumers
    • What Is an Audiologist
    • Hearing and Balance Symptoms and Conditions
    • Managing Hearing Loss
    • Seniors and Hearing Loss
    • Children and Hearing Loss
FacebookTwitterLinkedinYoutubeInstagram
  • Audiology Community
  • Students
  • Get Involved
  • Donate
  • Renew
The American Academy of Audiology
Member Login
  • Practice Resources
    • Practice Guidelines and Standards
    • Reimbursement
    • Coding
    • Compliance
    • Public Awareness
    • State Medicaid
    • Medicare FAQs
    • COVID-19 Resources
  • Education and Events
    • Event Calendar
    • AAA Annual Conference
    • Academy Research Conference (ARC)
    • Continuing Education
    • eAudiology Online Learning
    • Research Grants and Scholarships
  • News and Publications
    • Audiology Today
    • Newsroom
    • Journal of the American Academy of Audiology
    • Advertising
    • Audiology Solutions Network
    • Online Store
  • Careers
    • Career Center
    • Certification
    • Become an Audiologist
    • Doctoral Programs in Audiology
    • Recruiting
    • Resources for New Audiologists
  • Advocacy
    • Legislative and Regulatory Activities
      • State Affairs
      • Federal Affairs
    • Legislative Action Center
    • Government Relations News
  • About the Academy
    • Contact Us
    • Academy Membership
      • Benefits
      • Ethics
      • Member Directory
      • Membership Renewals
    • Leadership
    • Committees and Task Forces
    • Get Involved
    • Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion
    • Honors and Awards
    • Sponsorships and Corporate Partners
    • Press and Media Information
  • Audiology Community
  • Consumers
    • What Is an Audiologist
    • Hearing and Balance Symptoms and Conditions
    • Managing Hearing Loss
    • Seniors and Hearing Loss
    • Children and Hearing Loss
August 3, 2021

The Vestibular System Takes Home the Gold

  • In the News

The vestibular system in the average human is an intricate network incorporating multiple inputs so that equilibrium is maintained. The vestibular system of an elite athlete who regularly defies gravity, making complex rotations look routine is exquisite.

Watching the Olympic athletes maneuver in the air with precise knowledge of where their body is in relation to the ground, ice, ramp, or beam, depending on sport, is wondrous and not something to be taken for granted. Simone Biles’ recent and abrupt departure from competition due to a case of “the twisties” is an example of how critical the integration of vestibular and spatial awareness is in addition to physical strength.

“The twisties” as other gymnasts describe, is a mental block where athletes either lose or overthink a previously learned series of coordinated movements, or get lost in the air, effectively stopping them from completing the physical coordination required to safely execute gravity defying maneuvers.

There are three classifications of movement that help even us non-Olympians maintain our balance. The first and fastest is the myotic reflex. This is triggered when an outside force or perturbation occurs (e.g., think about being shoved from behind, or stepping on an icy patch). The ligaments and tendons stiffen surrounding the ankle, knee, and/or hip joints. This happens within 30–40 milliseconds and is pretty consistent regardless of athletic ability. The second is the functional stretch reflex, which takes about 100–200 milliseconds to kick in and incorporates larger muscle groups to assist in maintaining balance. The third classification includes all volitional movements. These are learned and are highly adaptable. Volitional movements, as the name suggests, aren’t really reflexes at all, even though some occur so quickly and naturally.

In the eyes of an average person, they may seem reflexive. The truth is some of these movements take hundreds or thousands of hours to hone and perfect. In addition to the physical practice, mental and cognitive rehearsal of these movements also occurs. It is hard to miss the pregame 1000-mile stares of some athletes before they take center stage. Most likely they are imagining and going over every minute detail of their routine, route, or game plan.

Unlike orthopedic injuries, when this internal representation is off or disrupted, there are no blatant outward signs. There may, however, be subtle signs that the individual notices such as, “feeling off” or “getting lost in space.” This may not seem like a big deal, but when you are attempting feats that no ordinary human can do, one slip up can result in catastrophic consequences.

Unfortunately, not much is known about these types of issues. I imagine after such high-profile attention to this issue, future studies in the vestibular and central processing systems of elite athletes will be conducted.

Reference

Goldman T. (2021) “Simone Biles got the ‘twisties’ at The Tokyo Olympics. Here’s what that means.” NPR (accessed July 29, 2021).

Share this

Recent Posts

Volunteer Spotlight: Laura Gaeta, PhD

Press Releases

Honoring Our Service Members: Supporting Our Veterans

Related Posts

Hundreds of American flags planted on the lawn
In the News

Honoring Our Service Members: Supporting Our Veterans

This Memorial Day, we honor those service members who have died in military service in the United States. The day was originally called Decoration Day, so named for the tradition of decorating graves with wreaths, flowers, and flags commemorating those who have passed on. While the day was widely observed after the Civil War, and…

Read More
Aspen Trees and fall colors in the Autumn in the mountains of Flagstaff, Arizona
In the News

Exploring New Sounds with the World’s Largest Trees

What does one of the world’s largest lifeforms sound like? That was a question Ari Daniel asked on a recent National Public Radio (NPR) “All Things Considered” episode. Pando is a quaking aspen tree that has spread to cover over 80 football fields in Fishlake National Forest, Utah. While Pando may resemble a forest, what…

Read More
Low section of female teacher with smiling children reading books in library. Shutterstock Image.
In the News

Mental Health, Quality of Life, and Communication in Children Diagnosed with Hearing Loss

Based on parent and teacher report, the prevalence of mental health problems is twice to four times higher in children diagnosed with hearing loss when compared to those peers without a hearing loss. Interestingly, children who are Deaf and hard-of-hearing (D/hh) and hard-of-hearing (HH) typically do not rate themselves as having significantly higher mental health…

Read More
wave-mark

Join the Academy

Academy members receive many benefits for professional development, practice management, and community development.

Become a Member
COMM22-Academy_Website_Graphics-Retina-Celebrating_35_Years (W)-min

American Academy of Audiology
11480 Commerce Park Drive
Suite 220
Reston, VA 20191

Tel: 703-790-8466
Fax: 703-790-8631

  • Practice Resources
    • Practice Guidelines and Standards
    • Reimbursement
    • Coding
    • Compliance
    • Public Awareness
    • State Medicaid
    • Medicare FAQs
    • COVID-19 Resources
  • Education and Events
    • Event Calendar
    • AAA Annual Conference
    • Academy Research Conference (ARC)
    • Continuing Education
    • eAudiology Online Learning
    • Research Grants and Scholarships
  • News and Publications
    • Audiology Today
    • Newsroom
    • Journal of the American Academy of Audiology
    • Advertising
    • Audiology Solutions Network
    • Online Store
  • Careers
    • Career Center
    • Certification
    • Become an Audiologist
    • Doctoral Programs in Audiology
    • Recruiting
    • Resources for New Audiologists
  • Advocacy
    • Legislative and Regulatory Activities
      • State Affairs
      • Federal Affairs
    • Legislative Action Center
    • Government Relations News
  • About the Academy
    • Contact Us
    • Academy Membership
      • Benefits
      • Ethics
      • Member Directory
      • Membership Renewals
    • Leadership
    • Committees and Task Forces
    • Get Involved
    • Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion
    • Honors and Awards
    • Sponsorships and Corporate Partners
    • Press and Media Information
  • Audiology Community
  • Consumers
    • What Is an Audiologist
    • Hearing and Balance Symptoms and Conditions
    • Managing Hearing Loss
    • Seniors and Hearing Loss
    • Children and Hearing Loss
  • Audiology Community
  • Students
  • Donate
  • Get Involved
  • Contact Us
  • Privacy Policy
  • Antitrust Policy and Guidelines
  • Terms of Use Policy
  • Accessibility Statement
  • Sitemap

© Copyright 2023 American Academy of Audiology

Website by Yoko Co

Scroll To Top