Relationship between the Weight of Lower Limb Somatosensory Inputs and Balance Control Movement while Standing on an Unstable Board

Abstract

This study investigated the effects of individual differences in the weight of somatosensory inputs from lower extremities on balance control movement while standing on an unstable board. The weight of somatosensory inputs was estimated based on participants’ sensitivity to the perturbation induced by a compliant surface. The unstable board had a narrow support surface width of fifteen mm and was unstable in pitch or roll plane depending on the direction of its support surface setting. Participants were instructed to stand upright on the unstable board as motionlessly as possible for 315 seconds. Coherence analyses were conducted on between kinematics data of participants’ lower and upper body. The results revealed that, in both cases of unstable in pitch and roll plane, participants who put more weight on lower limb somatosensory cues tended to coupled their lower and upper body motions more strongly for balance control.