Fascinating Facts

							The Brain and Senses:
Fascinating Facts...
People who play a stringed instrument (like a violin or guitar) have
bigger representation of their left hand (which they use to press down
the strings) in the brain than their right hand.

The ear isn't just about hearing - it is about balance too which is why
you may feel dizzy if you get an ear infection.

The balance part of your ears is connected to your eyes.
When someone spins around a few times and then stop suddenly they
feel dizzy - watch what happens to their eyes!

Fish don't really hear but sense vibrations in the water.

Owls don't have a pinna like humans, their face feathers act to funnel
sound and this is why they can turn their head around so much.

Bats can see where things are by using their hearing! They shout
using clicking sounds and then listen for the reflection of
these sounds off objects - it is called echo-location.

Have you ever been on an aeroplane? Did you notice your ears pop?
Normally the air pressure in the middle ear is the same as the outside
world. The small bones in the middle ear let air flow into and out of the
ear along the connecting tube (the eustacian tube) to the throat.

When a plane takes off, the air pressure in the aeroplane cabin goes
down making it lower than that in the middle ear.
When a plane lands, the air pressure in the cabin goes up making it
higher than in the middle ear.
When you suck, chew, swallow or pinch your nose and blow, air from the
outside travels along the tube to the middle ear equalising it. The
equalizing of air pressure differences is what makes your ears 'pop'.
You may have noticed that it's harder to pop your ears when landing -
that's because the air has to flow into the ear and it's harder to get
 air from a large space into a small space. Why not try it with a balloon?