title: Application of intermittent galvanic vestibular stimulation reveals age-related constraints in the multisensory reweighting of posture.
abstract: In this study we examined the effects of intermittent short-duration Galvanic Vestibular Stimulation (GVS) during a multisensory perturbation of posture in young and elderly adults. Twelve young (24.91±6.44 years) and eleven elderly (74.8±6.42 years) participants stood upright under two task conditions: (a) quiet standing and (b) standing while receiving pseudo-randomly presented bipolar 2 s GVS pulses. In both conditions, sensory reweighting was evoked by visual surround oscillations (20 cm, 0.3 Hz) and Achilles tendon vibration (3 mm, 80 Hz), concurrently delivered during the middle 60 s of standing. Intermittent GVS decreased the excessive postural sway induced by the concurrent visual and proprioceptive perturbation in young but not in elderly participants. It is suggested that GVS increases sensory reliance on the vestibular system while elderly adults are less able to exploit this stimulation in order to reduce the destabilizing effect of the multisensory perturbation on their posture.
authors.affiliation: Motor Control and Learning Laboratory, Department of Physical Education and Sport Science, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Greece.
authors.forename: Diderik J A
authors.initials: DJ
authors.lastname: Eikema
authors.affiliation: Motor Control and Learning Laboratory, Department of Physical Education and Sport Science, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Greece. Electronic address: vaso1@phed.auth.gr.
authors.forename: Vassilia
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Hatzitaki
authors.affiliation: Informatics and Telematics Institute, Centre for Research and Technology Hellas, 570 01 Thessaloniki, Greece.
authors.forename: Dimitrios
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Tzovaras
authors.affiliation: Université de Bourgogne, Unité de Formation et de Recherche en Sciences et Techniques des Activités Physiques et Sportives, F-21078 Dijon, France; Institut National de la Santé et de la Recherche Médicale (INSERM), U1093, Cognition, Action, and Plasticité Sensorimotrice, BP 27877, F-21078 Dijon, France.
authors.forename: Charalambos
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Papaxanthis
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000375:Aging / Q000502:physiology*; D004558:Electric Stimulation; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D010775:Photic Stimulation; D004856:Postural Balance; D011187:Posture; D011434:Proprioception; D014722:Vestibule, Labyrinth / Q000502:physiology*; D014732:Vibration; D014794:Visual Fields
keywords: Aging; Galvanic vestibular stimulation; Posture; Proprioception; Vision