Relationship between Directions of Postural Sway and Attention Induced by Auditory Stimulation

Abstract

The direction of postural sway in response to neck dorsal muscle stimulation can be influenced by change in gaze direction or direction of auditory stimulation. The degree of influence differs from one subject to another, and the reason for this individual difference remains largely unknown. Our previous study reported that the direction of postural sway induced by gaze change and that induced by auditory stimulation are related to each other. These results imply that a common mechanism, in which the two types of sensory information are integrated, is involved in these phenomena. We hypothesized this is related to the direction of attention. Visual attention was studied using a line-motion illusion. This study investigated the line-motion illusion during auditory stimulation. The results showed that auditory stimulation could also cause attention. This implies that postural sway occurs in the direction of attention by gaze and/or auditory stimulation.