Visuo-vestibular integration in the development of posture and gait

This paper will mainly review recent data on the visual and/or vestibular contributions to the development of posture and gait in humans. Some animal data will also be reported in the attempt of clarifying the functional role of both these sensory inputs. Because it carries the visual and vestibular sensors, the privileged role played by the head in the control of balance will be particularly emphasized. An hypothetic scheme will be proposed for the time course of the early visuovestibular integration, which simply assumes that it roughly follows the descending, cephalo-caudal progression with age of the infants' ability to control postural muscles (101).