You probably know your sense of balance is housed in your ears, but maybe you’ve never heard why some people are more prone to motion sickness. So here’s some on-the-level information.

Naturally, the brain controls equilibrium but it gets help from the vestibular system — tiny, ultra-sensitive organs in the ears that sense even the slightest movement and tell the brain so it can order muscles to compensate.

That constant cycle of motion and response is how we keep our balance.

Essentially, the vestibular system is like a carpenter’s level. But instead of using an air bubble, it gets readings from several chambers filled with liquid, with hairs attached to the bottom of each, like blades of grass.

Whenever the body moves, the liquid sloshes and disturbs the hairs, which signal the brain to take action.

Some chambers handle motion that’s up or down, or forward or backward, and others deal with spinning in a circle, turning left or right, or falling head over heels. Usually, the system is perfect.

But if a body is in extreme motion, the inner ear organs send more signals than the brain can handle, making some people sick. Things get even worse if the eyes send contradictory information.

For example, if a man is in the back seat of a car on a winding road, his vestibular system senses the motion of the car and........

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