Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Mechanisms of reference posture correction in the system of upright posture control

  • Published:
Human Physiology Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

It was earlier shown that ultraslow tilts of the support under quiet standing conditions evoke an unusual response reflecting the operation of compensatory mechanisms: postural sway is a superposition of postural oscillations typical of quiet standing and greater, slower inclinations of the body caused by the tilt. This may be explained by the presence of two hierarchical levels of upright posture control: real-time control compensates for small deviations of the body from the reference posture prescribed by presetting control. Mathematical simulation methods have been used to study the mechanisms of reference posture control. The results are compared with available experimental data. It is demonstrated that the reference posture can be corrected according to the gravitational vertical with the use of a kinesthetic reference alone. It is hypothesized that, when correcting the reference posture, the nervous system “assumes” the support to be immobile. The afferent input from sole pressure receptors is an important factor in reference posture correction. The advantages of the putative two-level control over control based on an explicit internal model are discussed.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Fitzpatrick, R.C. and McCloskey, D.I., Proprioceptive, Visual And Vestibular Thresholds for the Perception of Sway during Standing in Humans, J. Physiol., 1994, vol. 478, no. 1, p. 173.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  2. Gurfinkel’, V.S., Kots, Ya.M. and Shik, M.L., Regulyatsiya pozy cheloveka (Human Posture Control), M.: Nauka, 1965.

    Google Scholar 

  3. Gurfinkel’, V.S., Lipshits, M.I., and Popov, K.E., Kinesthetic Sensitivity Thresholds in an Upright Posture, Fiziol. Chel., 1982, vol. 8, no. 6, p. 931.

    Google Scholar 

  4. Gurfinkel’, V.S., Ivanenko, Yu.P., Levik, Yu.S., and Babakova, I.A., Kinesthetic Reference for Human Orthograde Posture, Neuroscience, 1995, vol. 68, no. 1, p. 229.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  5. Morasso, P. and Schieppati, M., Can Muscle Stiffness Alone Stabilize Upright Standing?, J. Neurophysiol., 1999, vol. 82, p. 1622.

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  6. Fel’dman, A.G., Tsentral’nye i reflektornye mekhanizmy upravleniya (Central and Reflex Control Mechanisms), Moscow: Nauka, 1979.

    Google Scholar 

  7. Fradkov, A.L., Adaptivnoe upravlenie v slozhnykh sistemakh (Adaptive Control in Complex Systems), Moscow: Nauka, 1990.

    Google Scholar 

  8. Terekhov, A.V., A Mathematical Model of Human Upright Posture Stabilization during Slow Perturbations of the Support, in Matematicheskoe modelirovanie dvizhenii cheloveka v norme i pri nekotorykh vidakh patologii (Mathematical Simulation of Movements in Healthy Humans and in Some Pathologies), Novozhilov, I.V. and Kruchinin, P.A., Eds., Moscow: Mosk. Gos. Univ., 2005.

    Google Scholar 

  9. Begun, P.I. and Shukeilo, Yu.A., Biomekhanika (Biomechanics), St. Petersburg: Politekhnika, 2000.

    Google Scholar 

  10. Winter, D.A., Patla, A.E., Prince, F., et al., Stiffness Control of Balance in Quiet Standing, J. Neurophysiol., 1998, vol. 80, p. 1211.

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  11. Gurfinkel’, V.S., Lipshits, M.I., and Popov, K.E., Is the Stretch Reflex the Main Mechanism of Posture Control in Humans?, Biofizika, 1974, vol. 19, no. 4, p. 744.

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  12. Micheaul, P., Kron, A., and Bourassa, P., Evaluation of the Lambda Model for Human Postural Control during Ankle Strategy, Biol. Cybern., 2003, vol. 89, p. 227.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  13. Fitzpatrick, R.C., Taylor, J.L., and McCloskey, D.I., Ankle Stiffness of Standing Humans in Response to Imperceptible Perturbation: Reflex and Task-Dependent Components, J. Physiol., 1992, vol. 454, no. 1, p. 533.

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  14. Kavounoudias, A., Roll, R., and Roll, J.P., Foot Sole and Ankle Muscle Inputs Contribute Jointly to Human Erect Posture Regulation, J. Physiol., 2001, vol. 532, no. 3, p. 869.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  15. Kiemell, T., Oie, K.S., and Jeka, J.J., Multisensory Fusion and the Stochastic Structure of Postural Sway, Biol. Cybern., 2002, vol. 87, p. 262.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  16. Kluzik, J., Horak, F.B., and Peterka, R.J., Differences in Preferred Reference Frames for Postural Orientation Shown by After-effects of Stance on an Inclined Surface, Exp. Brain. Res., 2005, vol. 162, p. 474.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  17. Maurer, C., Schweigart, G., and Mergner, T., Pronounced Overestimation of Support Surface Tilt during Stance, Exp. Brain. Res., 2006, vol. 168, nos. 1–2, p. 41.

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  18. Zatsiorsky, V.M. and Duarte, M., Instant Equilibrium Point and Its Migration in Standing Task: Rambling and Trembling Components of Stabilogram, Motor Control, 1999, vol. 3, p. 28.

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  19. Lee, D.N. and Lishman, J.R., Visual Proprioceptive Control of Stance, J. Hum. Mov. Stud., 1975, vol. 1, p. 87.

    Google Scholar 

  20. Levik, Yu.S., Shlykov, V.Yu., Gurfinkel’, V.S., and Ivanenko, Yu.P., Eye Movements Induced by Changes in the Internal Representation of Body Posture, Fiziol. Chel., 2005, vol. 31, no. 5, p. 68 [Hum. Physiol. (Engl. Transl), 2005, vol. 31, no. 5, p. 554].

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Moscow State University, Vorob’evy gory, Moscow, 119899, Russia

    A. V. Terekhov

  2. Collége de France, Paris, France

    A. V. Terekhov

  3. Institute of Problems of Data Transmission, Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow, 101447, Russia

    Yu. S. Levik & I. A. Solopova

Authors
  1. A. V. Terekhov
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Yu. S. Levik
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. I. A. Solopova
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Additional information

Original Russian Text © A.V. Terekhov, Yu.S. Levik, I.A. Solopova, 2007, published in Fiziologiya Cheloveka, 2007, Vol. 33, No. 3, pp. 40–47.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Terekhov, A.V., Levik, Y.S. & Solopova, I.A. Mechanisms of reference posture correction in the system of upright posture control. Hum Physiol 33, 289–295 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1134/S036211970703005X

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1134/S036211970703005X

Keywords

Search

Navigation