Vestibular Precision at the Level of Perception, Eye Movements, Posture, and Neurons

Diaz‐Artiles, Ana; Karmali, Faisal

doi:10.1016/j.neuroscience.2021.05.028

Cited by 37 publications

(33 citation statements)

References 174 publications

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“…Such changes might reflect the extent to which pitch sensitivity contributes to postural stability (e.g., COP path length) as reliance on vestibular information during standing balance increases. Furthermore, it has been postulated that changes in end organ functioning may be associated with increased neural noise 18 , 19 , 129 resulting in higher perceptual thresholds 130 and greater postural sway 131 – 133 .…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Age-related changes to vestibular heave and pitch perception and associations with postural control

Gabriel

Harris

Gnanasegaram

et al. 2022

Sci Rep

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Falls are a common cause of injury in older adults (OAs), and age-related declines across the sensory systems are associated with increased falls risk. The vestibular system is particularly important for maintaining balance and supporting safe mobility, and aging has been associated with declines in vestibular end-organ functioning. However, few studies have examined potential age-related differences in vestibular perceptual sensitivities or their association with postural stability. Here we used an adaptive-staircase procedure to measure detection and discrimination thresholds in 19 healthy OAs and 18 healthy younger adults (YAs), by presenting participants with passive heave (linear up-and-down translations) and pitch (forward–backward tilt rotations) movements on a motion-platform in the dark. We also examined participants’ postural stability under various standing-balance conditions. Associations among these postural measures and vestibular perceptual thresholds were further examined. Ultimately, OAs showed larger heave and pitch detection thresholds compared to YAs, and larger perceptual thresholds were associated with greater postural sway, but only in OAs. Overall, these results suggest that vestibular perceptual sensitivity declines with older age and that such declines are associated with poorer postural stability. Future studies could consider the potential applicability of these results in the development of screening tools for falls prevention in OAs.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Age-related changes to vestibular heave and pitch perception and associations with postural control

Gabriel

Harris

Gnanasegaram

et al. 2022

Sci Rep

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“…Numerous investigations over the past 50+ years have demonstrated significant detrimental effects associated with spaceflight, including sensorimotor function. Sensorimotor function is likely impaired by physiological adaptation to novel gravitational environments (Clark et al, 2015;De Sá Teixeira et al, 2017;Diaz Artiles et al, 2018;Galvan-Garza et al, 2018;Diaz-Artiles and Karmali, 2021;Goswami et al, 2021). Exposure to microgravity may, for example, cause sensorimotor discordance because our sensorimotor systems are calibrated to Earth's gravity (Bock, 1998).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Influence of Altered-Gravity on Bimanual Coordination: Retention and Transfer

et al. 2022

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Many of the activities associated with spaceflight require individuals to coordinate actions between the limbs (e.g., controlling a rover, landing a spacecraft). However, research investigating the influence of gravity on bimanual coordination has been limited. The current experiment was designed to determine an individual’s ability to adapt to altered-gravity when performing a complex bimanual force coordination task, and to identify constraints that influence coordination dynamics in altered-gravity. A tilt table was used to simulate gravity on Earth [90° head-up tilt (HUT)] and microgravity [6° head-down tilt (HDT)]. Right limb dominant participants (N = 12) were required to produce 1:1 in-phase and 1:2 multi-frequency force patterns. Lissajous information was provided to guide performance. Participants performed 14, 20 s trials at 90° HUT (Earth). Following a 30-min rest period, participants performed, for each coordination pattern, two retention trials (Earth) followed by two transfer trials in simulated microgravity (6° HDT). Results indicated that participants were able to transfer their training performance during the Earth condition to the microgravity condition with no additional training. No differences between gravity conditions for measures associated with timing (interpeak interval ratio, phase angle slope ratio) were observed. However, despite the effective timing of the force pulses, there were differences in measures associated with force production (peak force, STD of peak force mean force). The results of this study suggest that Lissajous displays may help counteract manual control decrements observed during microgravity. Future work should continue to explore constraints that can facilitate or interfere with bimanual control performance in altered-gravity environments.

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“…Different laboratories have identified a few frequency windows within the frequency spectrum and have connected these windows to the contribution of vestibular or visual or somatosensory information (99,(101)(102)(103)(104)(105). Occasionally, criteria for choosing the width of the frequency windows ( 106) have been provided.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Specific Posture-Stabilising Effects of Vision and Touch Are Revealed by Distinct Changes of Body Oscillation Frequencies

2021

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We addressed postural instability during stance with eyes closed (EC) on a compliant surface in healthy young people. Spectral analysis of the centre of foot pressure oscillations was used to identify the effects of haptic information (light-touch, EC-LT), or vision (eyes open, EO), or both (EO-LT). Spectral median frequency was strongly reduced by EO and EO-LT, while spectral amplitude was reduced by all “stabilising” sensory conditions. Reduction in spectrum level by EO mainly appeared in the high-frequency range. Reduction by LT was much larger than that induced by the vision in the low-frequency range, less so in the high-frequency range. Touch and vision together produced a fall in spectral amplitude across all windows, more so in anteroposterior (AP) direction. Lowermost frequencies contributed poorly to geometric measures (sway path and area) for all sensory conditions. The same subjects participated in control experiments on a solid base of support. Median frequency and amplitude of the spectrum and geometric measures were largely smaller when standing on solid than on foam base but poorly affected by the sensory conditions. Frequency analysis but not geometric measures allowed to disclose unique tuning of the postural control mode by haptic and visual information. During standing on foam, the vision did not reduce low-frequency oscillations, while touch diminished the entire spectrum, except for the medium-high frequencies, as if sway reduction by touch would rely on rapid balance corrections. The combination of frequency analysis with sensory conditions is a promising approach to explore altered postural mechanisms and prospective interventions in subjects with central or peripheral nervous system disorders.

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Vestibular Precision at the Level of Perception, Eye Movements, Posture, and Neurons

Cited by 37 publications

References 174 publications

Age-related changes to vestibular heave and pitch perception and associations with postural control

Age-related changes to vestibular heave and pitch perception and associations with postural control

The Influence of Altered-Gravity on Bimanual Coordination: Retention and Transfer

Specific Posture-Stabilising Effects of Vision and Touch Are Revealed by Distinct Changes of Body Oscillation Frequencies

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