Motor Strategies Responsible for Maintaining Standing Posture After Deafferentation of the Unilateral Leg

Vibration-induced post-effects: A means to improve postural asymmetry in lower leg amputees?

“…These postural alterations are more pronounced in eyes closed compared to eyes open conditions [4,8,23,24] and are generally thought to be due to the loss of sensory input from the amputated leg [7,8,25]. Indeed, temporary deafferentation with an air cuff above the knee induced similar posture alterations in healthy individuals [26]. In spite of their maintained ability to voluntarily contract the muscles of their deafferented leg, the participants in this latter study showed higher medio-lateral CP velocity and a tendency to increase the body weight bearing towards the untreated leg 13-14 min after deafferentation.…”

How Does the Central Nervous System for Posture and Locomotion Cope With Damage-Induced Neural Asymmetry?

“…This gave rise to the initial idea that motor adaptation to sensory deprivation resulted from ‘behavioral substitution’ rather than network remodeling ( Goldberger, 1988 ). Supporting this hypothesis, the experimental deafferentation of one leg in healthy humans bilaterally modified leg biomechanics ( Thoumie and Do, 1996 ) and bilaterally altered flexor and extensor muscle activation, resulting in postural adaptation by which the center of pressure was displaced backward under the ipsilesional foot ( Imai et al, 2005 ).…”