Gaze-stabilization exercise (GSE) is often conducted in vestibular rehabilitation, but its effect on vestibular function in postural control is not clear. We investigated whether GSE affects vestibular function during static upright standing and vestibulospinal reflex (VSR) in healthy young adults. First, the center of pressure of the total trajectory length (CoP-L) was measured before each GSE task or control (only standing) task (pre), immediately after (post), and 10 min after (post10) in the static standing position on foam rubber with the eyes open or closed (EC). Second, the H-reflex on the soleus muscle was measured after the onset of ipsilateral anodal galvanic vestibular stimulation before and after a GSE or a control task to estimate the amount of VSR induced by electrical vestibular input. CoP-L for the pre, post, and post10 control tasks and the GSE in EC did not differ significantly; the CoP-L for the post and post10 tasks in EC were significantly lower than that for the pretask. The H-reflex was inhibited by galvanic vestibular stimulation in the pre-GSE tasks. The inhibition increased after GSE, but not during control tasks. These findings suggest that GSE immediately improves the postural stability required for vestibular function and can be mediated by VSR improvements.
[Purpose] The aim of this study was to investigate whether gaze stabilization exercise
derives sensory reweighting of vestibular for upright postural control. [Subjects and
Methods] Twenty-three healthy volunteers participated in this study. The center of
pressure of the total trajectory length was measured before (pre), immediately after
(post), and 10 min after (post10) gaze stabilization exercise, in the static standing
position, with the eyes open or closed, on the floor or on foam rubber. The sensory
contribution values of the visual, somatosensory, and vestibular systems were calculated
using center of pressure of the total trajectory length value in these measuring
conditions. [Results] The center of pressure of the total trajectory length on foam rubber
in post and post10 were significantly lower than that in the pre. The sensory contribution
values of vestibular in post10 stages were significantly higher than that in pre-stage.
[Conclusion] Gaze stabilization exercise can improve the static body balance in a
condition that particularly requires vestibular function. The possible mechanism involves
increasing sensory contribution of the vestibular system for postural control by the gaze
stabilization exercise, which may be useful to derive sensory reweighting of the
vestibular system for rehabilitation.
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