Human postural response to lower leg muscle vibration of different duration.

Body lean response to bilateral vibrations of soleus muscles were investigated in order to understand the influence of proprioceptive input from lower leg in human stance control. Proprioceptive stimulation was applied to 17 healthy subjects by two vibrators placed on the soleus muscles. Frequency and amplitude of vibration were 60 Hz and 1 mm, respectively. Vibration was applied after a 30 s of baseline. The vibration duration of 10, 20, 30 s respectively was used with following 30 s rest. Subjects stood on the force platform with eyes closed. Postural responses were characterized by center of pressure (CoP) displacements in the anterior-posterior (AP) direction. The CoP-AP shifts as well as their amplitudes and velocities were analyzed before, during and after vibration. Vibration of soleus muscles gradually increased backward body tilts. There was a clear dependence of the magnitude of final CoP shift on the duration of vibration. The amplitude and velocity of body sway increased during vibration and amplitude was significantly modulated by duration of vibration as well. Comparison of amplitude and velocity of body sway before and after vibration showed significant post-effects. Presented findings showed that somatosensory stimulation has a long-term, direction-specific influence on the control of postural orientation during stance. Further, the proprioceptive input altered by soleus muscles vibration showed significant changes in postural equilibrium during period of vibration with interesting post-effects also.

[1]  J. Roll,et al.  Alteration of proprioceptive messages induced by tendon vibration in man: a microneurographic study , 2004, Experimental Brain Research.

[2]  G. Eklund,et al.  Further studies of vibration-induced effects on balance. , 1973, Upsala journal of medical sciences.

[3]  E. Ribot-Ciscar,et al.  Human motor unit activity during post-vibratory and imitative voluntary muscle contractions , 1996, Brain Research.

[4]  Marco Schieppati,et al.  Effects of leg muscle tendon vibration on group Ia and group II reflex responses to stance perturbation in humans , 2003, The Journal of physiology.

[5]  V. Gurfinkel,et al.  Immediate and remote postactivation effects in the human motor system , 2005, Neurophysiology.

[6]  D. Rogers,et al.  Disturbed proprioception following a period of muscle vibration in humans , 1985, Neuroscience Letters.

[7]  M. L. Latash,et al.  Afferent and efferent components of joint position sense; interpretation of kinaesthetic illusion , 1982, Biological Cybernetics.

[8]  V. Gurfinkel,et al.  Role of ia muscle spindle afferents in post-contraction and post-vibration motor effect genesis , 1992, Neuroscience Letters.

[9]  A. E. Patla,et al.  The effects of human ankle muscle vibration on posture and balance during adaptive locomotion , 2002, Experimental Brain Research.

[10]  S C Gandevia,et al.  Force and displacement-controlled tendon vibration in humans. , 1993, Electroencephalography and clinical neurophysiology.

[11]  M Schieppati,et al.  The limits of equilibrium in young and elderly normal subjects and in parkinsonians. , 1994, Electroencephalography and clinical neurophysiology.

[12]  F. Horak.  Postural orientation and equilibrium: what do we need to know about neural control of balance to prevent falls? , 2006, Age and ageing.

[13]  S. Watanabe,et al.  Postural readjustment to body sway induced by vibration in man , 2004, Experimental Brain Research.

[14]  L. Rowell,et al.  Exercise : regulation and integration of multiple systems , 1996 .

[15]  F Lacquaniti,et al.  Effect of gaze on postural responses to neck proprioceptive and vestibular stimulation in humans , 1999, The Journal of physiology.

[16]  F Hlavacka,et al.  Human postural responses to different frequency vibrations of lower leg muscles. , 2001, Physiological research.

[17]  K. Popov,et al.  Specific and Nonspecific Visual Influences on the Stability of the Vertical Posture in Humans , 2004, Neurophysiology.

[18]  Régine Roll,et al.  From balance regulation to body orientation: two goals for muscle proprioceptive information processing? , 1999, Experimental Brain Research.

[19]  R. Peterka.  Sensorimotor integration in human postural control. , 2002, Journal of neurophysiology.

[20]  K. Popov,et al.  Human Postural Responses to Vibratory Stimulation of Calf Muscles under Conditions of Visual Inversion , 2002, Human Physiology.

[21]  Anne Kavounoudias,et al.  Specific whole-body shifts induced by frequency-modulated vibrations of human plantar soles , 1999, Neuroscience Letters.

[22]  C Maurer,et al.  Vestibular, visual, and somatosensory contributions to human control of upright stance , 2000, Neuroscience Letters.

[23]  J. Roll,et al.  Vibration-induced postural posteffects. , 1998, Journal of neurophysiology.

[24]  V L Talis,et al.  Vibration-induced postural reaction continues after the contact with additional back support. , 2000, Motor control.