semicircular canals
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Image credit: Mayo Clinic
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Curved tubes, projecting from and attached to the utricle
of the inner ear of vertebrates, which
serve as the primary organ of balance (see vestibular
sense). The three looped semicircular canals are set at right angles
to each other and are filled with fluid (endolymph). Angular
acceleration (for example, due to rapid turning) of the animal in any
direction generates currents in the fluid along the corresponding canal.
These currents are detected by fine projections from sensory cells in a
swelling, called an ampulla, that lies at one attachment
point of each canal. The sensory nerves
communicate the information they receive to the brain
via the auditory nerve.
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