Why do ice skaters not get dizzy?

1not quite true

Skaters never get dizzy, right? Not quite. They feel it too, just far less. Their secret is a trick, plus a retrained brain.

2spotting

Trick one is spotting. Fix your eyes on one spot, turn the body, and snap the head round last, so the world holds still.

3fluid loop

Now the cause of dizziness. In each inner ear sit tiny loops filled with fluid. Turn your head and the fluid lags behind, because of inertia.

4the sensor

Hair-like sensors in the loop feel that lagging fluid and tell the brain, you are spinning. Keep spinning and the fluid catches up.

5the clash

Then you stop. The body is still, but the fluid keeps sloshing round. Your ears say spinning, your eyes say still. That clash is dizziness.

6quieter alarm

Trick two is training. After years of spinning, the brain learns to trust the ear's alarm less, like getting used to a siren next door.

7the evidence

Researchers compared ballet dancers with rowers. The dancers' brain area for ear signals was smaller, and they felt less dizzy. Skaters test as less reactive too.

8the whole idea

So, on one board: the ear still sends its alarm, even in a record spin of three hundred forty-two turns a minute. Spotting and training quiet it.