Haptic contact with a walking dog improves human balance during a quiet tandem task with various levels of difficulty

BACKGROUND: When a person walks a dog, information from variables of their own postural control is integrated with haptic information from the dog’s movements (e.g., direction, speed of movement, pulling forces). AIM: We examined how haptic information provided through contact with a moving endpoint (here, the leash of a dog walking on a treadmill) influenced an individual’s postural control during a quiet tandem standing task with and without restricted vision and under various elevations of the support surface (increased task difficulty levels). METHOD: Adults performed a 30-second quiet tandem stance task on a force platform while holding a leash attached to a dog who walked on a treadmill parallel to the force platform. Conditions included: haptic contact (dog and no-dog), vision constraint (eyes open, EO, and eyes closed, EC), and surfaces (4 heights). RESULTS: Interaction between haptic condition and vision showed that contact with the dog leash reduced root mean square (RMS) and mean sway speed (MSS). RMS showed that the highest surface had the greatest rate of sway reduction during haptic contact with EC, and an increase with EO. CONCLUSION: The dog’s movements were used as a haptic reference to aid balance when eyes were closed. In this condition, contact with the dog’s leash reduced the extent of sway variability on the higher surfaces.

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Effects of lifetime ethanol consumption on postural control: A computerized dynamic posturography study

Journal of Vestibular Research ◽

10.3233/ves-2002-12106 ◽

2002 ◽

Vol 12 (1) ◽

pp. 53-64

Author(s):

Saad Ahmad ◽

John W. Rohrbaugh ◽

Andrey P. Anokhin ◽

Erik J. Sirevaag ◽

Joel A. Goebel

Keyword(s):

Alcohol Consumption ◽

Postural Control ◽

Spectral Power ◽

Support Surface ◽

Dependent Manner ◽

Dynamic Posturography ◽

Eyes Closed ◽

Sensory Organization ◽

Computerized Dynamic Posturography ◽

Eyes Open

The relationship between lifetime alcohol consumption and postural control was investigated in 35 subjects with no clinically-detectable neurologic abnormalities, using computerized dynamic posturography (CDP) procedures. The estimated total number of lifetime alcoholic drinks was positively correlated with anteroposterior sway spectral power within the 2–4 Hz and 4–6 Hz frequency bands, in three Sensory Organization Test (SOT) conditions: eyes closed with stable support surface (SOT 2), eyes open with sway-referenced support (SOT 4), and eyes closed with sway-referenced support (SOT 5). All correlations remained significant after controlling for subject age, and were increased after excluding nine drug-abusing subjects. In contrast to the strong findings for frequency-based measures, no correlation was observed using conventional amplitude-based sway measures. These results suggest that 1) alcohol consumption compromises postural control in an exposure-dependent manner, and 2) sway frequency analysis reveals pathological processes not manifested in conventional CDP measures of sway amplitude.

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A public data set of human balance evaluations

PeerJ ◽

10.7717/peerj.2648 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 4 ◽

pp. e2648 ◽

Cited By ~ 16

Author(s):

Damiana A. Santos ◽

Marcos Duarte

Keyword(s):

Force Platform ◽

Short Version ◽

Rigid Surface ◽

Data Set ◽

Eyes Closed ◽

Unstable Surface ◽

Public Data ◽

Eyes Open ◽

Human Balance ◽

Trail Making

The goal of this study was to create a public data set with results of qualitative and quantitative evaluations related to human balance. Subject’s balance was evaluated by posturography using a force platform and by the Mini Balance Evaluation Systems Tests. In the posturography test, we evaluated subjects standing still for 60 s in four different conditions where vision and the standing surface were manipulated: on a rigid surface with eyes open; on a rigid surface with eyes closed; on an unstable surface with eyes open; on an unstable surface with eyes closed. Each condition was performed three times and the order of the conditions was randomized. In addition, the following tests were employed in order to better characterize each subject: Short Falls Efficacy Scale International; International Physical Activity Questionnaire Short Version; and Trail Making Test. The subjects were also interviewed to collect information about their socio-cultural, demographic, and health characteristics. The data set comprises signals from the force platform (raw data for the force, moments of forces, and centers of pressure) of 163 subjects plus one file with information about the subjects and balance conditions and the results of the other evaluations. All the data is available at PhysioNet and at Figshare.

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A public data set of human balance evaluations

10.7287/peerj.preprints.2162 ◽

2016 ◽

Author(s):

Damiana A Santos ◽

Marcos Duarte

Keyword(s):

Force Platform ◽

Short Version ◽

Rigid Surface ◽

Data Set ◽

Eyes Closed ◽

Unstable Surface ◽

Public Data ◽

Eyes Open ◽

Human Balance ◽

Trail Making

The goal of this study was to create a public data set with results of qualitative and quantitative evaluations related to human balance. Subject’s balance was evaluated by posturography using a force platform and by the Mini Balance Evaluation Systems Tests. In the posturography test, we evaluated subjects during standing still for 60 s in four different conditions where vision and the standing surface were manipulated: on a rigid surface with eyes open; on a rigid surface with eyes closed; on an unstable surface with eyes open; on an unstable surface with eyes closed. Each condition was performed three times and the order of the conditions was randomized among subjects. In addition, the following tests were employed in order to better characterize each subject: Short Falls Efficacy Scale International; International Physical Activity Questionnaire Short Version; and Trail Making Test. The subjects were also interviewed to collect information about their socio-cultural, demographic, and health characteristics. The data set comprises signals from the force platform (raw data for the force, moments of forces, and centers of pressure) of 163 subjects plus one file with information about the subjects and balance conditions and the results of the other evaluations. All the data is available at PhysioNet ( DOI: 10.13026/C2WW2W ) and at Figshare ( DOI: 10.6084/m9.figshare.3394432 ).

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Stationary auditory white noise improves postural control in healthy adults: A novel study on head-shaking

Journal of Vestibular Research ◽

10.3233/ves-201616 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 1-14

Author(s):

Midya Mohammadi ◽

Zakaria Enayati ◽

Moslem Shaabani ◽

Mohsen Vahedi

Keyword(s):

Postural Control ◽

White Noise ◽

Postural Sway ◽

Head Rotation ◽

Healthy Adults ◽

The Body ◽

Force Platform ◽

Eyes Closed ◽

Eyes Open ◽

Head Shake

BACKGROUND: Auditory cues might play a role in postural control. OBJECTIVE: The primary aim of this study was to investigate the association between white noise and head-shake (HS) related changes in postural sway. METHODS: Fifty healthy adults underwent Synapsys Posturography System (SPS) evaluation. The posturography (PG) evaluation consisted of two protocols: sensory organization test (SOT) and SOT with head-shake (HS) (HS-SOT). The standard SOT protocol of SPS involves a battery of six postural conditions. In the current study, participants underwent only four SOT conditions. The participants were asked to stand barefoot on the SPS platform (static platform and foam). The SOT standing conditions were as follow: (1) firm surface (force platform only) with eyes open (SOT1); (2) firm surface with eyes closed (SOT2); (3) foam surface (which was positioned on the force platform) with eyes open (SOT4); and (4) foam surface with eyes closed (SOT5). For the HS-SOT protocol, we asked the participants to move their heads left and right (i.e., yaw head rotation) in the mentioned SOT conditions. Each postural condition was 10 seconds long. Both SOT and HS-SOT postural conditions were conducted across the two hearing modes of silence and noise. To achieve our aims, comparison of sway parameters between SOT and HS-SOT, and between hearing modes were considered. RESULTS: White noise was associated with a reduction in postural sway. The reduction observed in sway area, sway amplitude, and sway frequency. Moreover, HS significantly increased postural sway in all HS-SOT conditions compared to their SOT equivalents (i.e., HS-SOT1 compared to SOT1, etc.). The presence of white noise was associated with a decrease in the HS-related increase in postural sway. CONCLUSIONS: Considering the results, this study adds to the body of literature suggesting that white noise contributes to postural control, and the implications of this for rehabilitation need to be further investigated.

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A public data set of human balance evaluations

10.7287/peerj.preprints.2162v1 ◽

2016 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Damiana A Santos ◽

Marcos Duarte

Keyword(s):

Force Platform ◽

Short Version ◽

Rigid Surface ◽

Data Set ◽

Eyes Closed ◽

Unstable Surface ◽

Public Data ◽

Eyes Open ◽

Human Balance ◽

Trail Making

The goal of this study was to create a public data set with results of qualitative and quantitative evaluations related to human balance. Subject’s balance was evaluated by posturography using a force platform and by the Mini Balance Evaluation Systems Tests. In the posturography test, we evaluated subjects during standing still for 60 s in four different conditions where vision and the standing surface were manipulated: on a rigid surface with eyes open; on a rigid surface with eyes closed; on an unstable surface with eyes open; on an unstable surface with eyes closed. Each condition was performed three times and the order of the conditions was randomized among subjects. In addition, the following tests were employed in order to better characterize each subject: Short Falls Efficacy Scale International; International Physical Activity Questionnaire Short Version; and Trail Making Test. The subjects were also interviewed to collect information about their socio-cultural, demographic, and health characteristics. The data set comprises signals from the force platform (raw data for the force, moments of forces, and centers of pressure) of 163 subjects plus one file with information about the subjects and balance conditions and the results of the other evaluations. All the data is available at PhysioNet ( DOI: 10.13026/C2WW2W ) and at Figshare ( DOI: 10.6084/m9.figshare.3394432 ).

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Effects of hypothermic anesthesia of the feet on vibration-induced body sway and adaptation

Journal of Vestibular Research ◽

10.3233/ves-2003-13105 ◽

2003 ◽

Vol 13 (1) ◽

pp. 39-52 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

F. Stål ◽

P.A. Fransson ◽

M. Magnusson ◽

M. Karlberg

Keyword(s):

Postural Control ◽

Sensory Loss ◽

Body Sway ◽

Cutaneous Mechanoreceptors ◽

Supporting Surface ◽

Eyes Closed ◽

Somatosensory Input ◽

Eyes Open ◽

Sensor Information ◽

Ice Water

The aim of this study was to investigate the significance of information from the plantar cutaneous mechanoreceptors in postural control and whether postural control could compensate for reduced cutaneous information by adaptation. Sixteen healthy subjects were tested with eyes open or eyes closed with hypothermic and normal feet temperature during posturography where body sway was induced by vibratory proprioceptive stimulation towards both calf muscles. The hypothermic anesthesia was obtained by cooling the subject's feet in ice water for 20 minutes. Body movements were evaluated by analyzing the anteroposterior and lateral torques induced towards the supporting surface by a force platform during the posturography tests. The reduction of cutaneous sensor information from the mechanoreceptors of the feet significantly increased the vibration-induced torque variance mainly in the anteroposterior direction. However, the effects of disturbed mechanoreceptors information was rapidly compensated for through postural adaptation and torque variance was in level with that without anesthesia within 50 to 100 seconds of stimulation, both when standing with eyes open and eyes closed. Our findings suggest that somatosensory input from mechanoreceptors in the foot soles contribute significantly in maintaining postural control, but the sensory loss could be compensated for.

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Maximal stability limits in adolescents with Tourette syndrome

Journal of Advanced Pediatrics and Child Health ◽

10.29328/journal.japch.1001024 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 4 (1) ◽

pp. 013-022

Author(s):

Blanchet Mariève ◽

Prince François ◽

Lemay Martin ◽

Chouinard Sylvain ◽

Messier Julie

Keyword(s):

Postural Control ◽

Tourette Syndrome ◽

Center Of Pressure ◽

Phase 1 ◽

Sensory Information ◽

Control Group ◽

Eyes Closed ◽

Highly Sensitive ◽

Eyes Open ◽

Stability Limits

We explored if adolescents with Gilles de la Tourette syndrome (GTS) had functional postural control impairments and how these deficits are linked to a disturbance in the processing and integration of sensory information. We evaluated the displacements of the center of pressure (COP) during maximal leaning in four directions (forward, backward, rightward, leftward) and under three sensory conditions (eyes open, eyes closed, eyes closed standing on foam). GTS adolescents showed deficits in postural stability and in lateral postural adjustments but they had similar maximal COP excursion than the control group. The postural performance of the GTS group was poorer in the eyes open condition (time to phase 1 onset, max-mean COP). Moreover, they displayed a poorer ability to maintain the maximum leaning position under the eyes open condition during mediolateral leaning tasks. By contrast, during forward leaning, they showed larger min-max ranges than control subjects while standing on the foam with the eyes closed. Together, these findings support the idea that GTS produces subclinical postural control deficits. Importantly, our results suggest that postural control disorders in GTS are highly sensitive to voluntary postural leaning tasks which have high demand for multimodal sensory integration.

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Static Postural Control Deficits in Adults with Myotonic Dystrophy Type 1, Steinert Disease

Journal of Neuromuscular Diseases ◽

10.3233/jnd-210639 ◽

2022 ◽

pp. 1-10

Author(s):

Audrey Parent ◽

Laurent Ballaz ◽

Bahare Samadi ◽

Maria Vocos, pht ◽

Alain Steve Comtois ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Postural Control ◽

Myotonic Dystrophy ◽

Myotonic Dystrophy Type 1 ◽

Myotonic Dystrophy Type ◽

Control Performance ◽

Significant Group ◽

Eyes Closed ◽

Significant Difference ◽

Eyes Open

Background: Myotonic dystrophy type 1 (DM1) is characterized by progressive and predominantly distal muscle atrophy and myotonia. Gait and balance impairments, resulting in falls, are frequently reported in this population. However, the extent to which individuals with DM1 rely more on a specific sensory system for balance than asymptomatic individuals (AI) is unknown. Objective: Evaluate postural control performance in individuals with DM1 and its dependence on vision compared to AI. Methods: 20 participants with DM1, divided into two groups based on their diagnosis, i.e. adult and congenital phenotype, and 12 AI participants were recruited. Quiet standing postural control was assessed in two visual conditions: eyes-open and eyes-closed. The outcomes measures were center of pressure (CoP) mean velocity, CoP range of displacement in anteroposterior and mediolateral axis, and the 95% confidence ellipse’s surface. Friedman and Kruskal-Wallis analysis of variance were used to compare outcomes between conditions and groups, respectively. Results: Significant group effect and condition effect were observed on postural control performance. No significant difference was observed between the two DM1 groups. The significant differences observed between the AI group and the two DM1 groups in the eyes-open condition were also observed in the eyes-closed condition. Conclusions: The result revealed poorer postural control performance in people with DM1 compared to AI. The DM1 group also showed similar decrease in performance than AI in eyes-closed condition, suggesting no excessive visual dependency.

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Reliability of Force-Platform Measures of Postural Sway and Expertise-Related Differences

Journal of Sport Rehabilitation ◽

10.1123/jsr.20.4.442 ◽

2011 ◽

Vol 20 (4) ◽

pp. 442-456 ◽

Cited By ~ 13

Author(s):

Zohreh Meshkati ◽

Mehdi Namazizadeh ◽

Mahyar Salavati ◽

Masood Mazaheri

Keyword(s):

Outcome Measures ◽

Postural Sway ◽

Center Of Pressure ◽

Intraclass Correlation ◽

Specific Property ◽

Force Platform ◽

Quiet Standing ◽

Eyes Closed ◽

Before And After ◽

Eyes Open

Context:Although reliability is a population-specific property, few studies have investigated the measurement error associated with force-platform parameters in athletic populations.Objective:To investigate the skill-related differences between athletes and nonathletes in reliability of center-of-pressure (COP) summary measures under eyes-open (EO) and eyes-closed (EC) conditions.Design:Test–retest reliability study.Setting:COP was recorded during double-leg quiet standing on a Kistler force platform before and after a fatiguing treadmill exercise, with EO and EC.Participants:31 male participants including 15 athletes practiced in karate and 16 nonathletes.Main Outcome Measures:Standard deviation (SD) of amplitude, phase-plane portrait, SD of velocity, mean total velocity, and area were calculated from 30-s COP data. Intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC), standard error of measurement, and coefficient of variation (CV) were used as estimates of reliability and precision.Results:Higher ICCs were found for COP measures in the athlete (compared with the nonathlete) group, postfatigued (compared with prefatigued) condition, and EC (compared with EO) tests. CVs smaller than 15% were obtained for most of the COP measures. SD of velocity in the anteroposterior direction showed the highest reliability in most conditions.Conclusions:Tests with EC and to a lesser extent tests performed in the athlete group and in the postfatigued condition showed better reliability.

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Positive Effects of Blue Light on Postural Control and Motor Coordination in Older Adults: A Pilot Study

10.21203/rs.3.rs-1132815/v1 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

C. Martyn Beaven ◽

Liis Uiga ◽

Kim Hébert-Losier

Keyword(s):

Older Adults ◽

Cognitive Function ◽

Postural Control ◽

Motor Coordination ◽

Light Exposure ◽

Clinical Approach ◽

Positive Effects ◽

Eyes Closed ◽

Eyes Open ◽

Human Costs

Abstract Purpose: Falls are a risk factor for mortality in older adults. Light interventions can improve cognitive function and performance in motor tasks, but the potential impact on postural control with relevance to falling is unknown. This study aimed to examine the effect of light on postural control, motor coordination, and cognitive functioning. Methods: Sixteen older adults participated in an intervention study that involved four counter-balanced sessions with blue-enriched light delivered visually and/or transcranially for 12 minutes. Postural control in three conditions (60 s eyes open, dual-task, and eyes closed), lower extremity motor coordination, and cognitive function were assessed. Area of sway (AoS), coordination, and cognitive function were compared between the groups via repeated-measured ANOVA. Results: Relative to placebo, visual blue-enriched light exposure clearly decreased AoS (d = 0.68 ±0.73; p =0.166) and improved reaction time in the motor coordination task (d = 1.44 ±0.75; p =0.004); however, no significant effect was seen on cognitive function. Conclusion Blue-enriched light demonstrates a novel clinical approach to positively impact on postural control and lower-limb motor coordination in older adults. By impacting on metrics associated with fall risk, blue-enriched light may provide a clinically meaningful countermeasure to decrease the human costs of falls.

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