2019 Volume 57 Issue 1 Pages 21-26
The direction of postural sway in response to neck dorsal muscle stimulation can be influenced by change in gaze direction. Likewise, this postural sway is affected by change in direction of auditory stimulation. The degree of influence differs from one subject to another, and the reason for this individual difference remains largely unknown. This study analyzed whether the direction of postural sway induced by gaze change and that induced by auditory stimulation are related to each other, with the aim to obtain insight into the brain region involved in these phenomena. Twenty-three subjects participated in the following two sets of measurements. First, we measured the directions of postural sway when the subjects changed their gaze after they turned their head to either the left or right. Next, we measured the directions of postural sway during auditory stimulation from the left or right. Then we calculated the correlation coefficient between the directions of sway measured in these experiments. The correlation coefficients were significant on the right side. These results imply that a common mechanism, in which the two types of sensory information are integrated, is involved in these phenomena.
