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Krembil Neuroscience Centre (KNC)
Balance - A to Z Glossary
Overview 
Clinics Staff Patient Information A - Z Glossary Map & Directions Health Professionals
This is not an exhaustive list, but includes some of the terminology commonly used in the assessment and treatment of balance disorders:
Auditory evoked response testing
Measures the electrical activity generated by sound that travels from the inner ear to the brainstem.
Balance
Balance is our physical sense of where we are in our environment. A complicated set of structures in our inner ears works with our eyes and our arms and legs to tell us whether we are up or down, moving or still.
Computerized rotational chair
Tests vestibulocular reflex by measuring an individual's eye adjustments in response to movements of the head.
Dizziness
Dizziness is a general term that describes a number of symptoms such as lightheadedness, giddiness or a feeling of uncertainty about the environment.
Electronystagmogram (ENG) balance test
Detects abnormal eye movements and damage to the inner ear.
Sacculocolic reflex test
Tests a person’s perception of gravity.
Scleral coil search study
Measures eye movements more accurately than any means available.
Vertigo
Vertigo is a specific kind of dizziness, which causes people to feel they are moving or the environment is moving around them. Vertigo is typically caused by diseases or disorders of the vestibular system (the inner ear) and/or central nervous system pathways that help us maintain balance and orientation in our surroundings.
