After spinning, for most of us the world does not seem to stand still even though we stopped moving. What I never realized is that our eyes didn’t stop moving, either. Most children at my preschool love our blue, egg-shaped spinner chair. They will close the white front cover and have a friend or teacher spin them for as long as they can. Well, today, for the first time I saw their faces after the cover opened and my surprise mixed with uproarious laughter as their bright, wide eyes looked at me but their irises kept moving. Apparently, once you stop spinning, be that on a merry-go-round, in a circle or on a swivel chair, the fluid in the semicircular canals inside your ears is still in motion. It recognizes activity while it happens, but often lags after sudden movements or keeps sloshing after continuous rotation, hence making your eyes move rapidly back-and-forth after you have become stationary. Check out the YouTube video up top of a little girl, whose mom taped after her spinning in a chair. Fascinatingly funny.
Learned Something New Today 