A Sound Activated Vestibular-Visual Protocol designed to enhance the dynamic interplay of moving, looking, & listening.
Description and Background:
The vestibular system, helps us understand the position of our head and body in gravity-bound space. It gives us information about which way is up and where we are going. It helps us with balance, spatial orientation, and maintaining a stable visual image, even when we are in motion. Since movement is a part of everything we do, the vestibular system is important for all of our interactions with the sensory world. Clearly, good vestibular function is important for all people, including astronauts.
Astronaut candidates undergo extensive training to optimize vestibular function so they can withstand the demands of weightlessness, free falling, and other disorienting aspects of space travel. Babies gain important information from the vestibular system about gravity as they begin to move through space of their own accord – crawling, pulling to stand, and tottering through their first steps.
Throughout life, starting in utero, the vestibular system is receiving continuous movement information. The fetus is frequently moving or being moved by the mother as she moves about. The amniotic fluid in the womb has a dampening effect on the fetal movements which prompted a researcher in early ultrasound studies to say of the fetus, “his movements look the movements of astronauts on the moon.”
Studies suggest a variety of ways in which activation of the vestibular system can boost functional performance. Although not always acknowledged, the vestibular system is central to our survival as well as to our ability to function in daily life. Vestibular deficits are often found in children with delayed motor development, perceptual or attention deficits, learning disabilities, emotional problems, language disorders, and autism. For example, gravitational insecurity may underlie a child’s fear of being moved, swinging and climbing at the playground, or riding an escalator.
The vestibular system teams up with the auditory and visual systems to perform many important tasks by helping us understand the 3-dimensional space, or spatial envelope, that surrounds us wherever we go. Through the proper functioning of our Vestibular-Auditory-Visual Triad the sights and sounds of our world become meaningful and entice us to move, explore, and engage with objects, people, and events.
The vestibular system provides a perception of orientation in space that must be activated by the musculo-skeletal system. It is our internal guidance instrument working to tie the body senses, such as proprioception and touch, together with the visual and auditory senses. Each component of the Vestibular-Auditory-Visual triad makes a unique contribution to our ability to be meaningfully occupied while maintaining our orientation in space under all conditions.
The dynamic interaction between the members of the Vestibular-Auditory-Visual Triad provides the backdrop for virtually everything we do and thus determines much about the quality of our lives. Listening to the carefully selected audio while engaging in the specific head, body, and eye activities in this protocol can improve vestibular function. These activities are our version of Astronaut Training: a sound activated Vestibular-Visual protocol designed to enhance the dynamic interplay of moving, looking, & listening.