Hearing IS related to balance

"Hearing had a clearly beneficial effect of auditory inputs on vestibulospinal coordination, especially for distance of displacement and angle of rotation." 

Given that these 2 systems, hearing as well as balance, are contained within the same location; “the organ of corti”, this is not surprising. The cochlea is the organ for hearing and the semicircular canals, utricle of saccule componenents of the vestibular apparatus. They share a common internal "fluid" called endolymph in the membranous labrynth of the inner ear that can flow freely from the vestibular apparatus to the cochlea. You will remember that the vestibular apparatus controls the vestibula spinal pathway which keeps us upright in the gravitational plain, along with vision and the joint mechanoreceptors. Involvement of 1 system will usually affect the other.

Dr Ivo, one of The Gait Guys

Seiwerth I, Jonen J, Rahne T, Schwesig R, Lauenroth A, Hullar TE, Plontke SK. Influence of hearing on vestibulospinal control in healthy subjects. HNO. 2018 Jul;66(Suppl 2):49-55. doi: 10.1007/s00106-018-0520-7.

#hearing, #balance, #gait, #thegaitguys, #gaitanalysis, #gaitcompensations, #vestibular