There are many causes of Vertigo , however, one specific cause can come from a mismatch in the senses of the body. Every second your body integrates an amazing amount of information.  Your brain is constantly matching up the information brought in from your vision, vestibular (inner ear), and somatosensory system, which are nerve endings that sense pressure and the position of the body in space. The Vestibular system is a series of bony canals in circles that contain fluid.  When the head and body moves, so does the fluid, giving the body an idea of what type of movement is occurring. This is made possible by an area inside the canals that contain crystals attached to small hair like receptors.  As the fluid moves over the crystals it bends the hairs letting the body know that movement is occurring.  If a piece of these crystals breaks off, they can float through the canals and cause the fluid to move, even when the body has stopped moving.  When this occurs as the body is trying to integrate information from one system to another, as mentioned before, none of it agrees, causing the spinning sensation, known as vertigo.