Physical Therapy Rehabilitation Science

korean Academy of Physical Therapy Rehabilitation Science (물리치료재활과학회)
권호 표지
DOI QR코드

DOI QR Code

Effect of light touch on body sway during a stable posture with blocked visual information

  • Kim, Jong-Gun (Department of Physical Therapy, The Graduate School, Sahmyook University) ;
  • Kim, Jin-Hong (Department of Physical Therapy, The Graduate School, Sahmyook University) ;
  • Do, Kwang-Sun (Department of Physical Therapy, The Graduate School, Sahmyook University) ;
  • Yim, Jongeun (Department of Physical Therapy, College of Health and Welfare, Sahmyook University)
  • Received : 2016.08.16
  • Accepted : 2016.09.02
  • Published : 2016.09.30
Download PDF
⟨ Previous Next ⟩

Abstract

Objective: The purpose of this study was to investigate how light touch with a finger affects balance ability when a posture is maintained in the condition of visual information blockage and to provide a fundamental material for developing balance ability in the process of rehabilitation treatment. Design: Cross-sectional study. Methods: The study subjects were 17 healthy men and women in their twenties and thirties who were studying at S University in Seoul. The system was comprised of an equilateral triangular force platform. Subjects were asked to step on the foot position of the force platform (Good Balance, Finland) barefooted for 30 seconds, with eyes closed, hands hanging down loosely, and feet comfortably apart. It was connected to a laptop by using Bluetooth technology. An experiment was conducted in the following three circumstances: 1) no-touch trial, 2) light touch to the back (T7 area), and 3) light touch to the middle finger of the left hand. Each subject was given a 10-minute break between consecutive measurements. The experimental circumstances were performed randomly. Anteroposterior sway (APSV), mediolateral sway velocity (MLSV), and velocity moment (VM) were measured. Results: The APSVs (mm/s) were $9.32{\pm}3.37$ and $5.45{\pm}2.98$; the MLSVs (mm/s), $6.39{\pm}3.35$ and $3.31{\pm}2.48$; and VM ($mm^2/s$), $17.13{\pm}11.75$ and $6.76{\pm}8.31$ in the first and second experimental circumstances, respectively. APSV, MLSV, and VM values were significantly improved with the 1) no-touch trial and 2) light touch to the back trail conditions compared with the 3) light touch to the middle finger of the left hand condition (p<0.05). Conclusions: This study revealed that the balance ability for maintaining a body posture was influenced more by light touch to the back (T7) than by light touch with the sensitive fingertip and body sway diminished after visual information was blocked.

Keywords

References

  1. Collins JJ, De Luca CJ. The effects of visual input on open-loop and closed-loop postural control mechanisms. Exp Brain Res 1995;103:151-63. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00241972
  2. Dijkstra TM, Schoner G, Giese MA, Gielen CC. Frequency dependence of the action-perception cycle for postural control in a moving visual environment: relative phase dynamics. Biol Cybern 1994;71:489-501. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00198467
  3. Horak FB, Shupert CL, Dietz V, Horstmann G. Vestibular and somatosensory contributions to responses to head and body displacements in stance. Exp Brain Res 1994;100:93-106.
  4. Inglis JT, Horak FB, Shupert CL, Jones-Rycewicz C. The importance of somatosensory information in triggering and scaling automatic postural responses in humans. Exp Brain Res 1994;101:159-64.
  5. Jeka J, Oie K, Schoner G, Dijkstra T, Henson E. Position and velocity coupling of postural sway to somatosensory drive. J Neurophysiol 1998;79:1661-74. https://doi.org/10.1152/jn.1998.79.4.1661
  6. van Asten WN, Gielen CC, Denier van der Gon JJ. Postural adjustments induced by simulated motion of differently structured environments. Exp Brain Res 1988;73:371-83. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00248230
  7. Winter DA. Human balance and posture control during standing and walking. Gait Posture 1995;3:193-214. https://doi.org/10.1016/0966-6362(96)82849-9
  8. Menz HB, Lord SR, Fitzpatrick RC. A tactile stimulus applied to the leg improves postural stability in young, old and neuropathic subjects. Neurosci Lett 2006;406:23-6. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neulet.2006.07.014
  9. Johannsen L, Lou SZ, Chen HY. Effects and after-effects of voluntary intermittent light finger touch on body sway. Gait Posture 2014;40:575-80. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gaitpost.2014.06.017
  10. Gieser DK, Goldberg MF, Apple DJ, Hamming NA, Kottow MH. Persistent hyperplastic primary vitreous in an adult: case report with fluorescein angiographic findings. J Pediatr Ophthalmol Strabismus 1978;15:213-8.
  11. Jeka JJ. Light touch contact as a balance aid. Phys Ther 1997;77:476-87. https://doi.org/10.1093/ptj/77.5.476
  12. Holden M, Ventura J, Lackner JR. Stabilization of posture by precision contact of the index finger. J Vestibul Res 1994;4:285-301.
  13. Jeka JJ, Lackner JR. Fingertip contact influences human postural control. Exp Brain Res 1994;100:495-502. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02738408
  14. Salminen M, Vahlberg T, Sihvonen S, Sjosten N, Piirtola M, Isoaho R, et al. Effects of risk-based multifactorial fall prevention on postural balance in the community-dwelling aged: a randomized controlled trial. Arch Gerontol Geriatr 2009;48:22-7. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.archger.2007.09.006
  15. Jeka JJ, Lackner JR. The role of haptic cues from rough and slippery surfaces in human postural control. Exp Brain Res 1995;103:267-76.
  16. Lackner JR, DiZio P, Jeka J, Horak F, Krebs D, Rabin E. Precision contact of the fingertip reduces postural sway of individuals with bilateral vestibular loss. Exp Brain Res 1999;126:459-66. https://doi.org/10.1007/s002210050753
  17. Jeka JJ, Easton RD, Bentzen BL, Lackner JR. Haptic cues for orientation and postural control in sighted and blind individuals. Percept Psychophys 1996;58:409-23. https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03206817
  18. Wing AM, Johannsen L, Endo S. Light touch for balance: influence of a time-varying external driving signal. Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci 2011;366:3133-41. https://doi.org/10.1098/rstb.2011.0169
  19. Slobounov S, Hallett M, Cao C, Newell K. Modulation of cortical activity as a result of voluntary postural sway direction: an EEG study. Neurosci Lett 2008;442:309-13. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neulet.2008.07.021
  20. Mochizuki G, Boe S, Marlin A, McIlRoy WE. Perturbationevoked cortical activity reflects both the context and consequence of postural instability. Neuroscience 2010;170:599-609. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuroscience.2010.07.008
  21. Jacobs JV, Horak FB. Cortical control of postural responses. J Neural Transm (Vienna) 2007;114:1339-48. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00702-007-0657-0
  22. Nashner LM, Shupert CL, Horak FB. Head-trunk movement coordination in the standing posture. Prog Brain Res 1988;76:243-51. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0079-6123(08)64511-2
  23. Ouchi Y, Okada H, Yoshikawa E, Nobezawa S, Futatsubashi M. Brain activation during maintenance of standing postures in humans. Brain 1999;122:329-38. https://doi.org/10.1093/brain/122.2.329
  24. Krishnamoorthy V, Slijper H, Latash ML. Effects of different types of light touch on postural sway. Exp Brain Res 2002;147:71-9. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00221-002-1206-6
  25. Rogers MW, Wardman DL, Lord SR, Fitzpatrick RC. Passive tactile sensory input improves stability during standing. Exp Brain Res 2001;136:514-22. https://doi.org/10.1007/s002210000615

Cited by

  1. The immediate effect of incorporating short-term slow abdominal respiration into an exercise program on balance and the autonomic nervous system vol.8, pp.4, 2016, https://doi.org/10.14474/ptrs.2019.8.4.225
  2. Review of the Upright Balance Assessment Based on the Force Plate vol.18, pp.5, 2016, https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph18052696