Search research articles

ABOUT JoVE

Overview Leadership Blog JoVE Help Center

AUTHORS

Publishing Process Editorial Board Scope & Policies Peer Review FAQ Submit

LIBRARIANS

Testimonials Subscriptions Access Resources Library Advisory Board FAQ

RESEARCH

JoVE Journal Methods Collections JoVE Encyclopedia of Experiments Archive

EDUCATION

JoVE Core JoVE Business JoVE Science Education JoVE Lab Manual Faculty Resource Center Faculty Site

Terms & Conditions of Use

Related Concept Videos

Effects of feedback

Effects of feedback

Feedback in control systems plays a critical role in shaping various operational parameters, extending beyond simple error reduction to influence stability, bandwidth, gain, impedance, and sensitivity. Understanding these effects requires examining a basic feedback system characterized by defined input, output, error, and feedback signals.
Feedback significantly modifies the gain of a control system. The gain of a system without feedback is altered by a factor of one plus GH, where G represents...

Feedback control systems

Feedback control systems

Feedback control systems are categorized in various ways based on their design, analysis, and signal types.
Linear feedback systems are theoretical models that simplify analysis and design. These systems operate under the principle that their output is directly proportional to their input within certain ranges. For instance, an amplifier in a control system behaves linearly as long as the input signal remains within a specific range. However, most physical systems exhibit inherent nonlinearity...

Indirect Motor Pathways

Indirect Motor Pathways

The indirect motor or extrapyramidal pathways originate in the brainstem, the lower portion of the brain that connects it to the spinal cord. They consist of several distinct tracts, each with specialized functions. The four main tracts of the indirect motor pathways are the vestibulospinal tract, the reticulospinal tract, the tectospinal tract, and the rubrospinal tract.
The vestibulospinal tract originates in the vestibular nuclei of the brainstem. The vestibular system detects changes in...

Equilibrium and Balance

Equilibrium and Balance

The inner ear assumes dual functionalities of auditory perception and equilibrium maintenance. The vestibule is the organ responsible for balance. This organ contains mechanoreceptors, specifically hair cells, endowed with stereocilia, which aid in deciphering information regarding the position and motion of our heads. Two intrinsic components, the utricle and saccule, help perceive head position, while the semicircular canals track head movement. Neurological messages initiated in the...

Root Loci for Positive-Feedback Systems

Root Loci for Positive-Feedback Systems

The Hartley oscillator is a positive feedback system that sustains oscillations by feeding the output back to the input in phase, thereby reinforcing the signal. Positive feedback systems can be viewed as negative feedback systems with inverted feedback signals. In these systems, the root locus encompasses all points on the s-plane where the angle of the system transfer function equals 360 degrees.
The construction rules for the root locus in positive feedback systems are similar to those in...

Major Somatic Sensory Pathways

Major Somatic Sensory Pathways

Sensory impulses related to touch, pressure, vibration, and proprioception from various body parts, such as the limbs, trunk, neck, and posterior head, travel to the cerebral cortex through the posterior column-medial lemniscus pathway. The pathway’s name derives from the two white-matter tracts that convey the impulses: the spinal cord's posterior column and the brainstem's medial lemniscus. First-order sensory neurons extend their axons into the spinal cord, forming the posterior columns...

You might also read

Related Articles

Articles linked to this work by shared authors, journal, and citation graph.

Sort by

Same author

Continuous volitional control of a bionic leg supports diverse walking patterns in both agonist-antagonist muscle interface and bone-anchored prosthesis users.

PNAS nexus·2026

Same author

Versatile kinematics-based constraint identification applied to robot task reproduction.

Frontiers in robotics and AI·2025

Same author

AI in therapeutic and assistive exoskeletons and exosuits: Influences on performance and autonomy.

Science robotics·2025

Same author

Simultaneous Perturbation of Knee and Ankle Joints During Stance Phase of Walking: Towards Biological Joint Impedance Estimation.

IEEE ... International Conference on Rehabilitation Robotics : [proceedings]·2025

Same author

Spatial Robust Whole-Body Dynamic Trajectory Optimization of a Lower-Limb Exoskeleton.

IEEE ... International Conference on Rehabilitation Robotics : [proceedings]·2025

Same author

Soft back exosuit controlled by neuro-mechanical modeling provides adaptive assistance while lifting unknown loads and reduces lumbosacral compression forces.

Wearable technologies·2025

Search research articles

Related Experiment Video

Updated: Jul 15, 2026

Experimental Methods to Study Human Postural Control

Experimental Methods to Study Human Postural Control

Published on: September 11, 2019

Postural responses evoked by platform pertubations are dominated by continuous feedback.

Herman van der Kooij¹, Erwin de Vlugt

¹Institute for Biomedical Technology, Department of Biomechanical Engineering, University of Twente, Enschede, The Netherlands. h.vanderkooij@utwente.nl

Journal of Neurophysiology

|April 27, 2007

Summary

Human balance control primarily uses continuous feedback, not intermittent mechanisms. Periodic responses explain most postural control, with sensory changes impacting estimation errors.

More Related Videos

A Vibrotactile Feedback Device for Seated Balance Assessment and Training

A Vibrotactile Feedback Device for Seated Balance Assessment and Training

Published on: January 20, 2019

Related Experiment Videos

Last Updated: Jul 15, 2026

Experimental Methods to Study Human Postural Control

Experimental Methods to Study Human Postural Control

Published on: September 11, 2019

A Vibrotactile Feedback Device for Seated Balance Assessment and Training

A Vibrotactile Feedback Device for Seated Balance Assessment and Training

Published on: January 20, 2019

Area of Science:

Human Motor Control
Systems Neuroscience
Biomechanics

Background:

Human postural control is essential for stability.
Debate exists whether balance relies on continuous or intermittent feedback.
Understanding feedback mechanisms is key to human movement.

Purpose of the Study:

To quantify continuous feedback's role in postural responses.
To differentiate continuous from intermittent control in balance.
To analyze responses to external periodic perturbations.

Main Methods:

Nine healthy subjects underwent periodic platform perturbations.
Center of mass and ankle torque responses were measured.
Spectral analysis decomposed responses into periodic and remnant components.

Main Results:

Periodic responses explained most evoked postural control.
Remnant (stochastic) power spectral densities were significant, especially for slow responses and eyes closed conditions.
Sensory conditions affected remnant power, not perturbation amplitude.

Conclusions:

Findings support continuous feedback loops in balance control.
Sensory information removal increases estimation errors.
Results contradict significant roles for discrete or intermittent feedback mechanisms in postural responses.