How is balance assessed in field sobriety tests in terms of

How is balance assessed in field sobriety tests? in terms of Vertebrate physiology

Solution

Sobriety tests are preliminary tests done in order to asses when person driving a motor vehicle in under influence of alcohol or drugs. These are generally followed by standard breath analyzer tests in case they found the person is indeed intoxicated, to check the alcohol level. For balance, for example, officer might the person to touch his/her nose with eyes closed in order to see how good the person is in doing so. Or might ask to walk on a straight line and turn on one foot and come back on the same line. At the physiological level, balance is a person has a sense of relative position of his/her organs (what is called “proprioception”). In vertebrates, it is provided by proprioceptors in muscles and tendons and fibrous capsules in joints. This uses information system from sensory neurons of inner ears and stretch receptors in the muscles and joints. The sense of relative position is communicated by dorsal column-medial lemniscus pathway of the central nervous system.