A method to assess response inhibition during a balance recovery step

Area of Science:

• Cognitive Neuroscience
• Biomechanics
• Motor Control

Background:

• Individual differences in inhibitory control are linked to falls, highlighting the need to suppress unwanted actions for fall prevention.
• The stop signal task is a validated cognitive neuroscience method for quantifying inhibitory control.
• Assessing reactive balance often focuses on reflexive actions, yet response inhibition is also critical.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the applicability of the stop signal task for measuring response inhibition in a reactive balance recovery context.
• To develop and validate a novel method for quantifying inhibitory control during balance tasks.

Main Methods:

• Twenty healthy young adults performed a reactive balance test with occasional required step suppression.
• A 'stop signal' instructed participants to inhibit a balance recovery step, with varying delays to manipulate difficulty.
• Inhibitory control was measured by analyzing force plate data (lift-off times) and muscle activation patterns.

Main Results:

• Most participants could suppress a balance recovery step, enabling individual differences in inhibitory control to be estimated.
• Successful step suppression was more frequent when stop signal delays were shorter, indicating task feasibility.
• The study successfully adapted a cognitive task to assess balance-related inhibitory control.

Conclusions:

• The stop signal task can be effectively adapted to quantify response inhibition in reactive balance.
• This approach provides a novel method for assessing a key component of fall prevention strategies.
• Future research can utilize this method to understand inhibitory control deficits in populations prone to falls.