How Vertigo Messes With Your Brain

You’d think that vertigo and dizziness episodes are bad enough in themselves, as they can heighten the risk of falling and limit your mobility.

But a new study published in the journal Research in Vestibular Science reveals shocking tricks that your vertigo could be playing on your brain.

And the parts of your brain that are messed with depend on which ear your vertigo stems from.

Most importantly, once your vertigo is healed, your brain also returns to normal.

Your brain is split into two hemispheres. Although they’re mostly similar, each part has different functions and roles.

When it comes to body movement, your brain crosses over. The right brain hemisphere controls your left leg and arm, while the left hemisphere controls your right leg and arm.

The ears and the balance system, on the other hand, operate a bit differently. The left ear connects to the left hemisphere and the right ear to the right hemisphere.

The question that scientists wanted to answer was: “Does vertigo in the left ear affect the left hemisphere differently than the right hemisphere, and vice versa?”

To find out, they selected volunteers who suffered from vertigo and identified the ear that it stemmed from.

They then used spatial working memory as a measurement, since it mostly operates from the right brain hemisphere.

Spatial working memory is your ability to keep spatial information active in your working memory for a short period, such as when comparing two maps, one from what you see and the other from your spatial memory.

Those suffering from vertigo in the right ear fared much worse on spatial working memory tests than those who suffered from vertigo in the left ear.

This shows that vertigo negatively affects the side of the brain from which it comes, proving that vertigo is not just a problem with the balance system that increases the risk of falling—it can also have severe consequences for your brain function.

The good news is that once the vertigo was healed, the spatial working memory returned to normal. This is another important reason to tackle your vertigo as soon as possible.

The easiest way to heal all types of vertigo—often with results on the very first day—is to use the simple head balance exercises described here…