TITLE:
Adaptation of the Feedforward Postural Response to Repeated Continuous Postural Perturbations
AUTHORS:
Ashleigh Kennedy, Nicoleta Bugnariu, Arnaud Guevel, Heidi Sveistrup
KEYWORDS:
Adaptation; Postural Control; Continual Perturbation
JOURNAL NAME:
Neuroscience and Medicine,
Vol.4 No.1,
March
12,
2013
ABSTRACT: We examined the adaptation of the
postural response to repeated predictable platform oscillations. Our main goals
were to determine whether the short-term changes that occurred during a minute
long continuous postural perturbation trial were maintained in subsequent
trials and to determine how many trials were required before participants fully
adapted to the postural task. Ten participants performed ten minute-long
postural trials on a platform that oscillated at 0.25 Hz before increasing to
0.50 Hz half way through each trial. Postural muscle onset latencies, burst
amplitudes, and anterior posterior displacements of the center of pressure
(COP) and center of mass (COM) were calculated for the last five cycles
performed in each trial at 0.50 Hz. The postural strategy evolved in two
phases: 1) immediate decrease in COP displacement; 2) earlier activation of the postural
muscles with smaller muscle burst amplitudes. After seven trials the postural
response remained consistent.