[Influence of static stimulation of cervical and otolithic receptors on posturographic parameters]

In the present work 30 normal adult subjects (20 males, 10 females; age range 25-40 years) having no signs or symptoms of vestibular involvement were studied in order to verify whether posturographic parameters could be influenced by the static stimulation of cervical and otolithic receptors. The posturographic evaluation was carried out using a stabilometric platform (Bertec) with the subject standing and the head in one of the following positions: median position, turned left (45 degrees), turned right (45 degrees), tilted left (40 degrees), tilted right (40 degrees), with eyes both opened and closed. The data obtained indicate that wide standard deviations exist in the observed parameters and no significant changes were observed with the head turned either to the right or left nor with the head tilted in either direction. Moreover, the posturographic data obtained with eyes open were slightly reduced in comparison to those obtained with the eyes closed. One can, thus, conclude that neither cervical nor otolithic inputs influence posturographic parameters under static conditions, while visual inputs modify significantly posturographic data, except the coordinates of the foot center of pressure.