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Updated: Jul 2, 2026

Computerized Dynamic Posturography for Postural Control Assessment in Patients with Intermittent Claudication
Published on: December 11, 2013
Cervical receptors and the direction of body sway
S Holtmann1, A Clarke, H Scherer
1Department of Otorhinolaryngology, University of Munich, Grosshardern Medical Center, Federal Republic of Germany.
Abstract:
A study was performed to determine whether the predominant direction of body sway is influenced by changes of head-to-trunk position. A group of ten patients suffering from acute unilateral vestibular loss was compared with a group of ten healthy subjects. Body sway was assessed by measurement on a posture platform. Center-of-force stabilograms were recorded with the subjects' eyes closed. After a baseline interval in the normal head-to trunk orientation, the head was torsioflexed with respect to the trunk and the locus of the center-of-force further assessed over a defined interval. It was observed that the patient group manifested a systematic translation of the direction of body sway that was associated in a consistent manner with the unilateral deficit. This translation occurred synchronously with head torsioflexion and could also be reproduced when turning the trunk with the head fixed, so that a semicircular canal influence could be excluded. It appears that cervical proprioceptive input to the central vestibular system is responsible for the effect observed.
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