Abstract
BackgroundEmotional states in the short term and affective impairments, such as anxiety and depression in the long run, can have a significant impact on postural control. Individuals with these conditions often struggle with maintaining balance during emotionally charged situations, which can increase their risk of falls and injuries. Biofeedback has been proposed as a potential intervention to improve postural control during emotional induction. Research questionHow do emotional stimuli affect postural control performance in the presence of real-time postural feedback? MethodsForty-two participants took part in the study. The visual stimuli used in the experiment to induce emotions of various valence in the subjects were video clips, containing a series of pictures (24 positive, 24 neutral and 24 negative pictures). During the experiment, participants were required to maintain balance standing on a force platform while watching the videos on a computer screen. For each subject, three sessions of 480 s were generated, each of which included two conditions: with and without biofeedback (a target on the screen indicating the subject’s position relative to the center of pressure (CoP). ResultsThe No Feedback condition provoked a higher medial-lateral and anterior-posterior sway, but lower velocity of CoP than the Feedback condition. We did not find any effect of the valence of emotional videos on indicators of postural control in No Feedback condition. However, both negative and positive videos provoked a lower velocity of CoP in comparison to neutral videos in the Feedback condition. SignificanceChanges observed in postural control during the Feedback condition in the presence of emotional stimuli (both negative and positive) could be explained by the shift in attention from the task of maintaining posture to the emotional videos. The results of this study have important implications for clinicians involved in postural training and rehabilitation.
Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
