Rapid adaptation to Coriolis force perturbations of voluntary body sway

Abstract

Studying adaptation to Coriolis perturbations of arm movements has advanced our understanding of motor control and learning. We have now applied this paradigm to two-dimensional postural sway. We measured how subjects ( n = 8) standing at the center of a fully enclosed rotating room who made voluntary anterior-posterior swaying movements adapted to the Coriolis perturbations generated by their sway. Subjects underwent four voluntary sway trials prerotation, 20 per-rotation at 10 rpm counterclockwise, and 10 postrotation. Each trial lasted 20 s, and subjects were permitted normal vision. Their voluntary sway during rotation generated Coriolis forces that initially induced rightward deviations of their forward sway paths and leftward deviations of their backward sway. Sagittal plane sway was gradually restored over per-rotation trials, and a mirror image aftereffect occurred in postrotation trials. Dual force plate data analysis showed that subjects learned to counter the Coriolis accelerations during rotation by executing a bimodal torque pattern that was asymmetric across legs and contingent on forward vs. backward movement. The experience-dependent acquisition and washout of this compensation indicate that an internal, feedforward model underlies the leg-asymmetric bimodal torque compensation, contingent on forward vs. backward movement. The learned torque asymmetry we observed for forward vs. backward sway is not consistent with parallel two-leg models of postural control.

Document Details

Document Type
Pub Defense Publication
Publication Date
Jun 01, 2019
Source ID
10.1152/jn.00606.2018

Entities

People

  • Avijit Bakshi
  • James R. Lackner
  • Paul DiZio

Organizations

  • Air Force Office of Scientific Research
  • Brandeis University
  • National Science Foundation

Tags

Readers

  • Atmospheric Science / Meteorology, specifically Wind Wave Turbulence.
  • Control Systems Engineering.
  • Neuroscience