title: Human upright posture control models based on multisensory inputs; in fast and slow dynamics.
abstract: Posture control to maintain an upright stance is one of the most important and basic requirements in the daily life of humans. The sensory inputs involved in posture control include visual and vestibular inputs, as well as proprioceptive and tactile somatosensory inputs. These multisensory inputs are integrated to represent the body state (body schema); this is then utilized in the brain to generate the motion. Changes in the multisensory inputs result in postural alterations (fast dynamics), as well as long-term alterations in multisensory integration and posture control itself (slow dynamics). In this review, we discuss the fast and slow dynamics, with a focus on multisensory integration including an introduction of our study to investigate "internal force control" with multisensory integration-evoked posture alteration. We found that the study of the slow dynamics is lagging compared to that of fast dynamics, such that our understanding of long-term alterations is insufficient to reveal the underlying mechanisms and to propose suitable models. Additional studies investigating slow dynamics are required to expand our knowledge of this area, which would support the physical training and rehabilitation of elderly and impaired persons.
authors.affiliation: Research Center for Brain Function and Medical Engineering, Asahikawa Medical University, Japan. Electronic address: rchiba@asahikawa-med.ac.jp.
authors.forename: Ryosuke
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Chiba
authors.affiliation: Research Center for Brain Function and Medical Engineering, Asahikawa Medical University, Japan.
authors.forename: Kaoru
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Takakusaki
authors.affiliation: Research into Artifacts, Center for Engineering (RACE), The University of Tokyo, Japan.
authors.forename: Jun
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Ota
authors.affiliation: Department of Rehabilitation Medicine, Graduate School of Medicine, The University of Tokyo, Japan.
authors.forename: Arito
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Yozu
authors.affiliation: Department of Rehabilitation Medicine, Graduate School of Medicine, The University of Tokyo, Japan.
authors.forename: Nobuhiko
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Haga
mesh_terms: D001696:Biomechanical Phenomena; D006801:Humans; D008953:Models, Anatomic; D008954:Models, Biological; D011187:Posture / Q000502:physiology*; D011434:Proprioception; D055698:Touch Perception; D014722:Vestibule, Labyrinth / Q000502:physiology; D014796:Visual Perception
keywords: Balance; Body representation in brain; Long-term alteration; Multisensory integration; Posture control