Plantar sensory degradation on motion perception and postural control

Abstract

To examine the balance deficits associated with peripheral neuropathy, some of previous researchers have examined the variations of postural responses such as the center of pressure (COP) and/or center of mass (COM) with different somatosensory manipulations [1]. However, considering that the nervous system generates compensatory motor control based on perceived body motion from multi-sensory information (vision, vestibular cues, and somatosensation), an investigation of perceived motion would be a more direct assessment of sensory deficit, rather than an examination of postural performance. To examine whether subjective motion perception could provide more sensitive assessment of the effect of reduced sensory cues on postural control than the measurement of body sway, we examined the contribution of plantar cutaneous sensation on motion perception and postural control. We examined the change of postural control response using both uni- and multi- variate assessment.