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Why can you get dizzy while sitting at home, just by watching a video involving heights?
Marc Julien
Because this stimulus affects our brain. In this situation, feeling dizzy comes from a reaction of our brain involving balance and risk assessment.
To better understand, let’s first focus on balance, with Christopher Pack, a neurobiologist specializing in vision at The Neuro at McGill University.
“Our brains are designed to keep our eyes focused on what we’re looking at, even if our bodies are moving,” Pack says. “But modern technology is affecting that ability. When we look at the scenery through a train window, we can get dizzy. When we watch someone on the edge of a cliff in a movie, on our television, with the living room wall in our field of vision, we can get dizzy. In both cases, our brains have trouble understanding the movements.”
This problem is more acute in people with better vision, such as younger people, Pack says.
At University College London, neurobiologist Diego Kaski adds another element to the phenomenon: risk assessment.
Fear of heights is a phobia, more than a balance problem.
Diego Kaski, neurobiologist at University College London
“We can be completely safe, on a stable platform with a railing, but get dizzy because we are at 30e floor and the height seems instinctively risky to us. The same reaction occurs when we watch a film with a situation of this kind.”
The key is habit. “People who are on scaffolds a lot are going to be used to it and therefore less afraid of the risks involved with height in this case,” Kaski said.
Age, a factor
The aging of the population has led to renewed interest in studying vertigo. “Vertigo can also be related to balance problems,” Kaski says. “In those cases, it’s more of a dizziness. Dizziness is more common as we age, and it can lead to falls, or it can be caused by balance problems.”
It is important to differentiate the causes of dizziness. It can be due to medication, neurological problems, stroke, migraines.
Diego Kaski, neurobiologist at University College London
Mr. Kaski reviewed advances in this field in 2020 in the Journal of Neurology.
Are people who are afraid of heights when they are young more likely to have balance problems when they get older?
“No, there’s no connection,” Kaski says. “But another problem with older people is that they become fearful. So they may be afraid of falling and limit their activities, even if they have very good balance. They overestimate the risk.”
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- Women are 4.4 times more likely to experience dizziness and lightheadedness compared to men.
Source: Acta Otorrinolaringologica
