Symptoms of Array-Associated Dizziness

Although there are several visual disorders that can cause dizziness Array-Associated Dizziness is not recognized as a disorder by the AMA. Dizziness as defined by the Mayo Clinic "...is a term used to describe everything from feeling faint or lightheaded to feeling weak or unsteady." Common symptoms associated with dizziness are vertigo, lightheadedness and loss of balance. Other symptoms associated with dizziness are floating, swimming or heavy-headedness.

Vertigo

• Vertigo is the false sense of motion or spinning. Vertigo can be associated with inner ear disorders, migraine headaches and visually by moving or confusing visual displays and has to do with the visual "flow field." If the peripheral vision in both eyes is not in sync dizziness and vertigo can result. An example of this is walking down a supermarket aisle. If the images at the extreme edges of vision are not transmitted to the brain and processed at the same speed disorientation, vertigo and dizziness can result.

Lightheadedness

• Lightheadedness is the feeling of near fainting, also known as presyncope. Sometimes feelings of nausea, pale skin and clamminess accompany lightheadedness. Vision is part of the sensory input that helps us determine our positions. When vision conflicts with the other senses it can create dizziness. Moving, or confusing visual arrays can create this type of sensory conflict.

Loss of Balance

• Loss of balance is also known as disequilibrium. Symptoms of disequilibrium are loss of balance or the feeling of unsteadiness. It is the latter category that could invoke dizziness when someone is confronted by so much data it makes them dizzy. The space shuttle astronauts experienced this from the variety of devices they used to monitor the shuttle. In this situation they used a Kalman filter, sometimes called an "optimal estimator" or an "internal model," to help process the data. Human sensorimotor processing is thought to work similar to Kalman filters.

Other Symptoms

• Other symptoms associated with dizziness are floating, swimming or heavy-headedness. Some symptoms that are hard to describe include feeling "spaced out" or having the sensation of spinning inside your head. There can be several physical causes of these and other symptoms of dizziness including nystagmus, or the involuntary jumping of the eyes, a tilt of the eyes called ocular counterroll is another and a third is asymmetrical or impaired vestibular reflexes. All or any of these can call the range of symptoms known as dizziness. All these conditions can be exacerbated by having so many choices it can make you dizzy.