title: Modulation of cortical activity in response to visually induced postural perturbation: combined VR and EEG study.
abstract: There is evidence from EEG studies that unexpected perturbations to standing posture induce a differential modulation of cortical activity compared to self-initiated and/or predictable conditions. However, the neural correlates of whole body postural response to visually induced perturbations on standing posture have not been examined. Here we employ a novel experimental paradigm via combined virtual reality (VR) and EEG measures to examine the effects of visually induced perturbations on the dynamics of postural responses. Twelve Penn State student-athletes without prior history of neurologic disorders and/or orthopaedic injuries participated in this study. There were no differences in response/reaction time measures between both spatially and temporally unpredictable and fully predictable conditions (p>.05). However, significantly stronger modulation of frontal-central EEG theta activity was present prior to onset of unpredictable postural perturbations (p<.05). It is postulated that enhanced EEG theta in unpredictable conditions reflects increased effort to recruit additional brain resources to meet the demands of the postural tasks.
authors.affiliation: Department of Kinesiology, The Pennsylvania State University, 276 Recreation Building, University Park, PA 16802, USA. sms18@psu.edu
authors.forename: Semyon M
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Slobounov
authors.forename: Elizabeth
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Teel
authors.forename: Karl M
authors.initials: KM
authors.lastname: Newell
mesh_terms: D002540:Cerebral Cortex / Q000502:physiology*; D004569:Electroencephalography / Q000379:methods*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D004856:Postural Balance / Q000502:physiology*; D011187:Posture / Q000502:physiology*; D011930:Reaction Time / Q000502:physiology; D014584:User-Computer Interface; D055815:Young Adult