title: Electrical noise to a knee joint stabilizes quiet bipedal stance.
abstract: Studies have shown that a minute, noise-like electrical stimulation (ES) of a lower limb joint stabilizes one-legged standing (OS), possibly due to the noise-enhanced joint proprioception. To demonstrate the practical utility of this finding, we assessed whether the bipedal stance (BS), relatively stable and generally employed in daily activities, is also stabilized by the same ES method. Twelve volunteers maintained quiet BS with or without an unperceivable, noise-like ES of a knee joint. The results showed that the average amplitude, peak-to-peak amplitude, and standard deviation of the foot center of pressure in the anteroposterior direction were significantly attenuated by the ES (P<0.05). These results indicate that the BS also can be stabilized by an unperceivable, noise-like ES of a knee joint.
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Sport and Health Science, Ritsumeikan University, Kusatsu, Shiga 525-8577, Japan. tkimura@fc.ritsumei.ac.jp
authors.forename: Tetsuya
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Kimura
authors.forename: Motoki
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kouzaki
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D004558:Electric Stimulation; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007719:Knee Joint; D008297:Male; D004856:Postural Balance / Q000502:physiology*; D011434:Proprioception / Q000502:physiology; D055815:Young Adult