Related Experiment Video
Updated: Mar 7, 2026
07:19
A Modified Lean and Release Technique to Emphasize Response Inhibition and Action Selection in Reactive Balance
Published on: March 19, 2020
6.4K
Compliant support surfaces affect sensory reweighting during balance control
I M Schut1, D Engelhart2, J H Pasma3
1Laboratory of Biomechanical Engineering, Institute for Biomedical Technology and Technical Medicine (MIRA), University of Twente, P.O. Box 217, 7500 AE Enschede, The Netherlands; Department of Biomechanical Engineering, Delft University of Technology, Mekelweg 2, 2628 CD Delft, The Netherlands.
Gait & Posture
|February 24, 2017
Summary
Balance training with foam mats affects sensory reweighting. Increased surface compliance reduces how much the body adjusts sensory input, impacting balance control strategies.
Area of Science:
- Biomechanics
- Neuroscience
- Human Motor Control
Background:
- Maintaining upright posture relies on complex interactions between nervous, muscular, and sensory systems.
- Sensory reweighting is crucial for adapting balance control.
- Compliant foam mats are used in balance training, but their effect on sensory reweighting is not fully understood.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the impact of support surface (SS) compliance on sensory reweighting during balance control.
- To determine how SS compliance and rotation amplitude interact to influence ankle proprioception adjustments.
Main Methods:
- Eleven healthy subjects stood on a support surface with controlled rotations and varying compliance.
- Multisine disturbance torques were applied to the ankles.
- Corrective ankle torques were analyzed using frequency response functions (FRF) to calculate lower frequency magnitudes (LFM).
Main Results:
- Increasing SS rotation amplitude decreased LFM, indicating reduced sensory reweighting.
- A significant interaction effect showed that this decrease was less pronounced on more compliant surfaces.
- Eyes-closed trials resulted in larger LFM compared to eyes-open trials.
Conclusions:
- Foam mat compliance influences the sensitivity of sensory reweighting to changes in support surface rotation.
- Higher SS compliance leads to relatively less sensory reweighting as SS amplitude changes.
- These findings have implications for designing effective balance training programs using compliant surfaces.
Related Concept Videos
01:28Major Somatic Sensory Pathways
3.2K
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...
3.2K
01:15Equilibrium and Balance
7.5K
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...
7.5K
01:33Somatosensation
44.2K
The somatosensory system relays sensory information from the skin, mucous membranes, limbs, and joints. Somatosensation is more familiarly known as the sense of touch. A typical somatosensory pathway includes three types of long neurons: primary, secondary, and tertiary. Primary neurons have cell bodies located near the spinal cord in groups of neurons called dorsal root ganglia. The sensory neurons of ganglia innervate designated areas of skin called dermatomes.
44.2K
01:29The Vestibular System
44.5K
The vestibular system is a set of inner ear structures that provide a sense of balance and spatial orientation. This system is comprised of structures within the labyrinth of the inner ear, including the cochlea and two otolith organs—the utricle and saccule. The labyrinth also contains three semicircular canals—superior, posterior, and horizontal—that are oriented on different planes.
44.5K