THE VESTIBULOCOCHLEAR NERVE
The nerve that takes the information, both auditory (sound) and vestibular (balance) to the brain is known as the Vestibulocochlear nerve. One of the 12 cranial nerves, this sensory nerve is responsible for the transmission of information about the sounds that enter the ear canal and the movement of the head or body.
Just imagine yourself on an amusement park ride, such as a roller coaster. Your ears are in overdrive as the sounds of the screams around you, and maybe your own, are entering your ears. At the same time, your vestibular system is working hard to make sense of all the input it is receiving in terms of both head position and movement. Your eyes are probably sending mixed signals to your cerebellum, and you will feel that jump in your stomach when you are going over each hill on the coaster. Your Vestibulocochlear nerve is taking all this information and passing it on to your brain, which in turn is making sense of it all and sending its own information to the muscles to compensate for all the competing signals it has been given.