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On-off intermittency in a human balancing task.

Juan L Cabrera1, John G Milton

  • 1Department of Neurology, MC-2030, The University of Chicago, 5841 South Maryland Avenue, Illinois 60637, USA.

Physical Review Letters
|October 9, 2002
PubMed
Summary
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Human balance control involves rapid corrective movements, suggesting parametric noise plays a key role in maintaining stability, similar to an inverted pendulum model.

Area of Science:

  • Biomechanics
  • Neuroscience
  • Complex Systems

Background:

  • Maintaining balance is crucial for human movement and involves intricate neural control mechanisms.
  • Previous models often focused on feedback delays but less on the role of noise in stability control.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the dynamics of stick balancing at the fingertip using three-dimensional motion analysis.
  • To explore the role of parametric noise in the neural control of balance.

Main Methods:

  • Three-dimensional motion analysis to capture stick displacement and corrective movements.
  • Development of an inverted pendulum model with time-delayed feedback and parametric noise.

Main Results:

  • Stick balancing fluctuations follow a scaling law indicative of on-off intermittency.

Related Experiment Videos

  • Over 98% of corrective movements occurred faster than the measured time delay.
  • The model successfully reproduced experimental observations, highlighting the effect of parametric noise.

    • Conclusions:

    • Parametric noise is a critical factor in the neural control of human balance.
    • Rapid corrective movements are characteristic of systems operating near a stability boundary influenced by noise.