Identifying the control of physically and perceptually evoked sway responses with coincident visual scene velocities and tilt of the base of support

Abstract

In this study, we have explored whether the impact of visual information on postural reactions is due to the same perceptual mechanisms that produce vection. Pitch motion of the visual field was presented at varying velocities to eight healthy subjects (29.9+/-2.8 years) standing quietly on a stationary base of support or receiving a 3 degrees toes-up tilt of the base of support. An infrared motion system recorded markers placed on body segments to record angular displacement of head and ankle and calculate whole body center of mass. Onset of the visual field motion and base of support movement were synchronized in all trials. We found that in the first 2 s following onset of visual field motion, both direction and amplitude of the linear displacement of whole body center of mass and angular displacement of the head, hip, and ankle were modulated by the velocity of visual scene motion. When the visual scene rotated in upward pitch, subjects overshot their initial vertical position with amplitudes that increased as velocity of the visual field increased. This behavior was even more evident when the base of support was tilted. These responses were much shorter than those observed in studies of vection. The dependence of the postural response amplitudes on the velocity of the visual field suggests, however, that there might be well-shared control pathways for visual influences on postural reactions and postural sway elicited by an illusion of self-motion.