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A Vibrotactile Feedback Device for Seated Balance Assessment and Training
Published on: January 20, 2019
Time to reconfigure balancing behaviour in man: changing visual condition while riding a continuously moving
Alessandro Marco De Nunzio1, Marco Schieppati
1Centro Studi Attività Motorie (CSAM), Fondazione Salvatore Maugeri, Istituto di Ricovero e Cura a Carattere Scientifico (IRCSS), Via Salvatore Mugeri 10, 27100, Pavia, Italy.
Experimental Brain Research
|October 3, 2006
Summary
Humans rapidly adapt their balance strategies when visual conditions change. Shifting from eyes closed to eyes open (EC to EO) balance is faster than EO to EC, demonstrating swift sensory integration for postural control.
Area of Science:
- Human motor control
- Postural stability
- Sensory integration
Background:
- Human balance relies on integrating visual, vestibular, and somatosensory information.
- Vision plays a crucial role in stabilizing the head and body during translation.
- The time course of adapting balance strategies to changing visual input is not fully understood.
Purpose of the Study:
- To quantify the time required for subjects to switch balance strategies when visual conditions change.
- To compare the adaptation latencies between transitions from eyes open to eyes closed (EO-->EC) and vice versa (EC-->EO).
- To investigate the kinematic and muscle activity changes associated with these visual condition shifts.
Main Methods:
- Ten subjects performed balancing trials on an antero-posterior translating platform (10 cm, 0.5 Hz).
- Visual conditions were manipulated: eyes open (EO), eyes closed (EC), and transitions (EO-->EC, EC-->EO) triggered by an acoustic signal.
- Kinematic data (malleolus, hip, head displacement) and electromyography (EMG) from leg and axial muscles were recorded.
Main Results:
- Balancing was less stable with eyes closed (EC) than eyes open (EO), indicated by larger oscillations and EMG activity.
- Transitions between visual conditions (EO-->EC, EC-->EO) resulted in changes in movement and muscle activity within 1 to 2.5 seconds.
- Adaptation latencies were shorter for EC-->EO transitions compared to EO-->EC, with changes often occurring at the start of platform oscillation cycles.
Conclusions:
- Humans can rapidly adapt their balancing behavior to altered visual feedback.
- The transition from visual to non-visual balance control (EO-->EC) is slower than the reverse (EC-->EO).
- These findings highlight the rapid, automatic release of new balancing strategies based on sensory information shifts.
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