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Precise cortical contributions to sensorimotor feedback control during reactive balance.

Scott Boebinger1, Aiden Payne2, Giovanni Martino3

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Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

The cortex contributes to balance recovery, with its involvement increasing as tasks become more challenging. This study models cortical contributions to muscle activity, aiding in understanding balance deficits.

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Area of Science:

  • Neuroscience
  • Motor Control
  • Biomechanics

Background:

  • The cortex's role in automatic whole-body movements like walking and balance is not fully understood.
  • While subcortical circuits primarily mediate gait and balance, the cortex engages based on task difficulty.
  • A mechanistic understanding of how cortical input influences motor output during complex movements is lacking.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the relationship between hierarchical control mechanisms and their engagement during reactive balance recovery tasks of increasing difficulty in young adults.
  • To test the hypothesis that parallel sensorimotor feedback loops, involving both subcortical and cortical circuits, contribute to balance-correcting muscle activity.
  • To determine if cortical circuit involvement escalates with increasing balance challenge.

Main Methods:

  • Decomposition of balance-correcting muscle activity into hypothesized subcortical and cortical feedback components based on sensory information and loop delays.
  • Analysis of muscle activity onset latencies to differentiate between subcortical and cortical sensorimotor loop contributions.
  • Utilizing electroencephalography (EEG) to measure evoked cortical activity and compare its timing with muscle activity patterns.

Main Results:

  • Initial balance-correcting muscle activity occurred at all difficulty levels, with latencies matching subcortical sensorimotor loops.
  • A delayed burst of muscle activity, presumed to be cortically mediated, emerged with increased balance task difficulty, consistent with transcortical loop delays.
  • Evoked cortical activity in central midline areas, measured via EEG, showed similar sensory transformations as muscle activity but with delays indicative of a transcortical loop role.

Conclusions:

  • A neuromechanical model can infer cortical contributions to muscle activity without direct brain recordings.
  • Cortical involvement in balance control increases with task difficulty, mediated by transcortical sensorimotor loops.
  • This model offers a framework for assessing cortical contributions to balance in conditions like aging and neurological disorders (e.g., Parkinson's disease).