Abstract
Perturbation-evoked responses (PERs) to a physical perturbation of postural stability have been detected using electroencephalography (EEG). Components of these responses are hypothesized to demonstrate the detection (P1) and evaluation (N1) of postural instability. Despite the important contribution of the visual system to postural control, PERs to a visual perturbation of posture have yet to be reported. Ten healthy young adults were exposed to unpredictable visual occlusion mediated through liquid crystal glasses under two conditions of postural demand: quiet standing and quiet sitting. The participants’ PERs and postural responses were recorded and differences between conditions assessed using Wilcoxon signed-rank tests. In response to unpredictable visual occlusion, both P1 and N1 components of the PER were observed in both postural conditions. The amplitude of the P1 response remained consistent between postural conditions (\(Z=-0.5606\), \(p=0.5751\)), whereas N1 amplitude and postural responses were significantly smaller in the sitting condition (\(Z=-2.2934\), \(p=0.0218\)). This is the first study to demonstrate cortical responses to visual perturbation of posture. The responses to postural perturbation by sudden visual occlusion are similar in nature to that seen in relation to a physical perturbation. In addition, the amplitude of the N1 response is not only consistent with the relative magnitude of the perturbation, but also the underlying postural set, with a larger N1 seen in standing relative to sitting. The study informs the relative importance of vision to postural stability, postural set and provides a protocol to objectively assess sensory-based postural disorders.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Adkin AL, Campbell AD, Chua R, Carpenter MG (2008) The influence of postural threat on the cortical response to unpredictable and predictable postural perturbations. Neurosci Lett 435:120–125
Adkin AL, Quant S, Maki BE, McIlroy WE (2006) Cortical responses associated with predictable and unpredictable compensatory balance reactions. Exp Brain Res 172:85–93
Beckley DJ, Bloem B, Remler MP, Roos R, Van Dijk J (1991) Long latency postural responses are functionally modified by cognitive set. Electroencephalogr Clin Neurophysiol Evoked Potentials Sect 81:353–358
Ben-Itzhak R, Herman T, Giladi N, Hausdorff J M (2011) Gait disturbances in aging. Clin Neurol Aging 277
Bogost MD, Burgos PI, Little CE, Woollacott MH, Dalton BH (2016) Electrocortical sources related to whole-body surface translations during a single-and dual-task paradigm. Front Human Neurosci 10
Bolton D (2015) The role of the cerebral cortex in postural responses to externally induced perturbations. Neurosci Biobehav Rev 57:142–155
Del Percio C, Brancucci A, Bergami F, Marzano N, Fiore A, Di Ciolo E, Aschieri P, Lino A, Vecchio F, Iacoboni M, Gallamini M (2007) Cortical alpha rhythms are correlated with body sway during quiet open-eyes standing in athletes: a high-resolution eeg study. Neuroimage 36:822–829
Delorme A, Makeig S (2004) EEGLAB: an open source toolbox for analysis of single-trial EEG dynamics including independent component analysis. J Neurosci Methods 134:9–21
Dietz V, Quintern J, Berger W (1984) Cerebral evoked potentials associated with the compensatory reactions following stance and gait perturbation. Neurosci Lett 50:181–186
Dietz V, Quintern J, Berger W (1985) Afferent control of human stance and gait: evidence for blocking of group I afferents during gait. Exp Brain Res 61:153–163
Duarte M, Freitas SM (2010) Revision of posturography based on force plate for balance evaluation. Braz J Phys Ther 14:183–192
Duckrow R, Abu-Hasaballah K, Whipple R, Wolfson L (1999) Stance perturbation-evoked potentials in old people with poor gait and balance. Clin Neurophysiol 110:2026–2032
Grangeon M, Gauthier C, Duclos C, Lemay J-F, Gagnon D (2015) Unsupported eyes closed sitting and quiet standing share postural control strategies in healthy individuals. Motor Control 19:10–24
Hauer K, Pfisterer M, Weber C, Wezler N, Kliegel M, Oster P (2003) Cognitive impairment decreases postural control during dual tasks in geriatric patients with a history of severe falls. J Am Geriatr Soc 51:1638–1644
Horak FB, Diener H, Nashner L (1989) Influence of central set on human postural responses. J Neurophysiol 62:841–853
Jacobs J, Horak F (2007) Cortical control of postural responses. J Neural Transm 114:1339–1348
Jacobs JV (2014) Why we need to better understand the cortical neurophysiology of impaired postural responses with age, disease, or injury. Front Integr Neurosci 8
Jehu DA, Desponts A, Paquet N, Lajoie Y (2015) Prioritizing attention on a reaction time task improves postural control and reaction time. Int J Neurosci 125:100–106
Kayser J, Tenke CE, Gil R, Bruder GE (2010) ERP generator patterns in schizophrenia during tonal and phonetic oddball tasks: effects of response hand and silent count. Clin EEG Neurosci 41(4):184–195
Kuo AD, Speers RA, Peterka RJ, Horak FB (1998) Effect of altered sensory conditions on multivariate descriptors of human postural sway. Exp Brain Res 122:185–195
Light GA, Williams LE, Minow F, Sprock J, Rissling A, Sharp R, Swerdlow NR, Braff DL (2010) Electroencephalography (EEG) and event-related potentials (ERPs) with human participants. Curr Protocols Neurosci, p 6–25
Little CE, Woollacott M (2015) EEG measures reveal dual-task interference in postural performance in young adults. Exp Brain Res 233:27–37
Lopez-Calderon J, Luck SJ (2014) ERPLAB: an open-source toolbox for the analysis of event-related potentials. Front Human Neurosci 8
Maki B, Mcllroy W (1996) Influence of arousal and attention on the control of postural sway. J Vestib Res 6:53–59
Maki BE, McIlroy WE (2007) Cognitive demands and cortical control of human balance-recovery reactions. J Neural Transm 114:1279–1296
Marlin A, Mochizuki G, Staines WR, McIlroy WE (2014) Localizing evoked cortical activity associated with balance reactions: does the anterior cingulate play a role? J Neurophysiol 111:2634–2643
Mihara M, Miyai I, Hatakenaka M, Kubota K, Sakoda S (2008) Role of the prefrontal cortex in human balance control. Neuroimage 43:329–336
Milgram P (1987) A spectacle-mounted liquid-crystal tachistoscope. Behav Res Methods Instrum Comput 19:449–456
Mochizuki G, Boe S, Marlin A, McIlRoy W (2010) Perturbation-evoked cortical activity reflects both the context and consequence of postural instability. Neuroscience 170:599–609
Mochizuki G, Sibley K, Esposito J, Camilleri J, McIlroy W (2008) Cortical responses associated with the preparation and reaction to full-body perturbations to upright stability. Clin Neurophysiol 119:1626–1637
Mochizuki G, Sibley KM, Cheung HJ, Camilleri JM, McIlroy WE (2009) Generalizability of perturbation-evoked cortical potentials: independence from sensory, motor and overall postural state. Neurosci Lett 451:40–44
Peterka R (2002) Sensorimotor integration in human postural control. J Neurophysiol 88:1097–1118
Petrofsky JS, Alshammari F, Lee H, Yim JE, Bains G, Khowailed IA et al (2012) Electroencephalography to assess motor control during balance tasks in people with diabetes. Diabetes Technol Ther 14:1068–1076
Prieto TE, Myklebust J, Hoffmann R, Lovett E, Myklebust B (1996) Measures of postural steadiness: differences between healthy young and elderly adults. IEEE Trans Biomed Eng 43:956–966
Quant S, Adkin A, Staines W, McIlroy W (2004) Cortical activation following a balance disturbance. Exp Brain Res 155:393–400
Quant S, Adkin AL, Staines WR, Maki BE, McIlroy WE (2004) The effect of a concurrent cognitive task on cortical potentials evoked by unpredictable balance perturbations. BMC Neurosci 5:18
Rapport LJ, Webster JS, Flemming KL, Lindberg JW, Godlewski MC, Brees JE et al (1993) Predictors of falls among right-hemisphere stroke patients in the rehabilitation setting. Arch Phys Med Rehabil 74:621–626
Redfern MS, Yardley L, Bronstein AM (2001) Visual influences on balance. J Anxiety Disord 15:81–94
Remaud A, Boyas S, Lajoie Y, Bilodeau M (2013) Attentional focus influences postural control and reaction time performances only during challenging dual-task conditions in healthy young adults. Exp Brain Res 231:219–229
Roerdink M, Hlavackova P, Vuillerme N (2011) Center-of-pressure regularity as a marker for attentional investment in postural control: a comparison between sitting and standing postures. Human Mov Sci 30:203–212
Serra-AÑó P, López-Bueno L, García-Massó X, Pellicer-Chenoll MT, González L-M (2015) Postural control mechanisms in healthy adults in sitting and standing positions. Perceptual and motor skills 121:119–134
Slobounov S, Hallett M, Stanhope S, Shibasaki H (2005) Role of cerebral cortex in human postural control: an EEG study. Clin Neurophysiol 116:315–323
Staines RW, McIlroy WE, Brooke JD (2001) Cortical representation of whole-body movement is modulated by proprioceptive discharge in humans. Exp Brain Res 138:235–242
Toledo DR, Manzano GM, Barela JA, Kohn AF (2016) Cortical correlates of response time slowing in older adults: ERP and ERD/ERS analyses during passive ankle movement. Clin Neurophysiol 127:655–663
Tse YYF, Petrofsky JS, Berk L, Daher N, Lohman E, Laymon MS et al (2013) Postural sway and rhythmic electroencephalography analysis of cortical activation during eight balance training tasks. Med Sci Monit 19:175
Varghese JP, Marlin A, Beyer KB, Staines WR, Mochizuki G, McIlroy WE (2014) Frequency characteristics of cortical activity associated with perturbations to upright stability. Neurosci Lett 578:33–38
Vuillerme N, Nafati G (2007) How attentional focus on body sway affects postural control during quiet standing. Psychol Res 71:192–200
Acknowledgements
The authors would like to acknowledge the input of Paul Davey in developing the software and integrating the hardware for the study and also Dr. Richard Parsons for helping with the statistical analysis of the research study.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Goh, K.L., Morris, S., Lee, W.L. et al. Postural and cortical responses following visual occlusion in standing and sitting tasks. Exp Brain Res 235, 1875–1884 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00221-017-4887-6
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00221-017-4887-6