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Does the type of visual feedback information change the control of standing balance?

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Abstract

Purpose

The aim of this study was to evaluate whether different types of visual feedback influence the control of standing balance.

Methods

Twenty-six subjects performed three tasks on a force platform: (1) standing with eyes open; (2) maintaining the own center of pressure (COP) displacement (internal feedback) on a target; and (3) pointing with a handheld laser pointer (external feedback) on a target. The COP and ankle displacements were measured through a force platform and a biaxial electrogoniometer, respectively, during 60 s in each task. Global posturographic parameters were computed in the anterior–posterior and medial–lateral directions. In addition, the standard deviation and mean frequency of the ankle movements were also calculated in the sagittal plane.

Results

The sway area and standard deviation of COP differed between conditions, wherein smaller and higher values were typically observed during the internal and external feedback, respectively. Conversely, both the mean frequency and the mean velocity of COP were greater during internal feedback compared with other tasks, while external feedback usually leads to smaller values. Additionally, smaller and higher values for the ankle standard deviation and the ankle mean frequency, respectively, were observed during internal feedback, with the external feedback condition showing an opposite behavior.

Conclusions

These results showed that the global postural sway and the postural adjustments at ankle during standing balance change depending on the type of visual feedback information.

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Abbreviations

AP:

Anterior–posterior

COP:

Center of pressure

EO:

Eyes open

EXTVF :

External visual feedback

INTVF :

Internal visual feedback

SD:

Standard deviation

ML:

Medial–lateral

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Acknowledgments

The authors are grateful to the volunteers for their cooperation. This work was supported by a Grant from the Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES) and FAPERJ. T.L. was recipient of a CAPES-PNPD fellowship.

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Author notes

  1. Thiago Lemos

    Present address: Programa de Pós-Graduação em Ciências da Reabilitação, Centro Universitário Augusto Motta-UNISUAM, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Núcleo de Estudos do Movimento Humano (NEMoH), Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

    Fabio dos Anjos, Thiago Lemos & Luís Aureliano Imbiriba

  2. Laboratory for Engineering of the Neuromuscular System (LISiN), Department of Electronics, Politecnico di Torino, Via Cavalli 22/H, 10138, Turin, Italy

    Fabio dos Anjos

  3. Institute of Biophysics Carlos Chagas Filho, Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

    Thiago Lemos

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  1. Fabio dos Anjos
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Correspondence to Fabio dos Anjos.

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The authors declare no conflicts of interest, financial or otherwise.

Additional information

Communicated by Toshio Moritani.

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dos Anjos, F., Lemos, T. & Imbiriba, L.A. Does the type of visual feedback information change the control of standing balance?. Eur J Appl Physiol 116, 1771–1779 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00421-016-3434-7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00421-016-3434-7

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