Postural control paradigm (BioVRSea): towards a neurophysiological signature.

Area of Science:

• Neuroscience
• Biomedical Engineering
• Human Motor Control

Background:

• Postural control is crucial for daily activities and involves complex sensorimotor integration.
• Quantitative diagnostic tools for certain neurological conditions affecting balance are limited.
• Virtual reality (VR) and motion platforms offer novel environments for studying complex behaviors.

Purpose of the Study:

• To define a novel neurophysiological signature using electroencephalography (EEG) during a challenging postural control task.
• To utilize the BioVRSea paradigm, combining VR and a dynamic platform, to simulate sea conditions.
• To establish a baseline for identifying potential pathological conditions through quantitative assessment.

Main Methods:

• Acquired 64-channel EEG data from 190 healthy participants performing a postural task on a moving platform in VR.
• Recorded EEG during six experimental segments: Baseline, PRE, 25%, 50%, 75%, and POST.
• Computed power spectral density (PSD) differences across five frequency bands (delta, theta, alpha, beta, low-gamma) relative to baseline.

Main Results:

• All frequency bands showed significant differences compared to baseline across all tasks and participants.
• Specific patterns observed: delta band (prefrontal increase), theta band (fronto-parietal decrease), alpha band (global decrease).
• Beta band showed mixed results (occipital/temporal increase, others decrease), and low-gamma band showed a slight parietal/occipital/temporal increase.

Conclusions:

• This study establishes a neurophysiological reference for complex postural control tasks using the BioVRSea paradigm.
• Localized brain activity patterns were identified within specific frequency bands during different task phases.
• This work represents a foundational step towards developing a neurophysiological signature for diagnosing conditions lacking objective measures.