The role of an auditory cue in generating anticipatory postural adjustments in response to an external perturbation.

The role of an auditory cue in generating anticipatory postural adjustments in response to an external perturbation.
Exp Brain Res. 2020 Feb 03;:
Authors: Liang H, Kaewmanee T, Aruin AS
Abstract
Anticipatory postural adjustments (APAs) are usually generated to minimize the potential postural disturbance induced by predictable external perturbations. Visual information about a perturbation is important for the generation of APAs, but whether people can rely on auditory information to generate APAs is unknown. The aim of this study was to investigate the role of an auditory cue in generating APAs when visual information is not available. Fifteen young adults participated in the study. They received external perturbations a) with visual information but no auditory information available, b) without neither visual nor auditory information, c) with both visual and auditory information available, and d) with only auditory information available. Electromyography (EMG) activities of eight leg and trunk muscles and displacements of the center-of-pressure (COP) were recorded and analyzed during the anticipatory and compensatory (CPAs) phases. Outcome measures included the latencies and integrals of muscle activities, COP displacements, and indices of co-contraction and reciprocal activation of muscles. The results showed that after a short training, participants were able to rely only on the auditory cue to generate APAs comparable to that when...

Source: Experimental Brain Research - February 2, 2020 Category: Neuroscience Authors: Liang H, Kaewmanee T, Aruin AS Tags: Exp Brain Res Source Type: research