Abstract
Mobile Electroencephalography (EEG) provides insights into cortical contributions to postural control. Although changes in theta (4–8 Hz) and alpha frequency power (8–12 Hz) were shown to reflect attentional and sensorimotor processing during balance tasks, information about the effect of stance leg on cortical processing related to postural control is lacking. Therefore, the aim was to examine patterns of cortical activity during single-leg stance with varying surface stability. EEG and force plate data from 21 healthy males (22.43 ± 2.23 years) was recorded during unipedal stance (left/right) on a stable and unstable surface. Using source-space analysis, power spectral density was analyzed in the theta, alpha-1 (8–10 Hz) and alpha-2 (10–12 Hz) frequency bands. Repeated measures ANOVA with the factors leg and surface stability revealed significant interaction effects in the left (p = 0.045, ηp2 = 0.13) and right motor clusters (F = 16.156; p = 0.001, ηp2 = 0.41). Furthermore, significant main effects for surface stability were observed for the fronto-central cluster (theta), left and right motor (alpha-1), as well as for the right parieto-occipital cluster (alpha-1/alpha-2). Leg dependent changes in alpha-2 power may indicate lateralized patterns of cortical processing in motor areas during single-leg stance. Future studies may therefore consider lateralized patterns of cortical activity for the interpretation of postural deficiencies in unilateral lower limb injuries.
Highlights
IntroductionPostural control represents the ability to monitor and adjust the position and alignment of the body in space and is essential for almost all motor activities of daily life, by Communicated by Winston D Byblow.Daniel Büchel and Tim Lehmann contributed .Various neuroimaging studies have already demonstrated that the brain may actively contribute to postural stability in response to changing sensorimotor demands (Mierau et al 2017; Solis-Escalante et al 2019; Varghese et al 2019; Gebel et al, 2020)
The results of the two-way repeated-measures ANOVA yielded a significant main effect for stability on SV (F = 120.372; p < 0.001; ηp2 = 0.858) and AOS (F = 76.362; p < 0.001; ηp2 = 0.792), indicating lower values during stable compared to the unstable conditions
The results of the two-way repeated-measures ANOVA revealed a significant main effect for stability in the frontocentral cluster (F = 18.016; p < 0.001, ηp2 = 0.38), where theta power increased from the stable to the unstable condition
Summary
Postural control represents the ability to monitor and adjust the position and alignment of the body in space and is essential for almost all motor activities of daily life, by Communicated by Winston D Byblow.Daniel Büchel and Tim Lehmann contributed .Various neuroimaging studies have already demonstrated that the brain may actively contribute to postural stability in response to changing sensorimotor demands (Mierau et al 2017; Solis-Escalante et al 2019; Varghese et al 2019; Gebel et al, 2020). Increased excitability in these cortical areas may reflect enhanced cortical alertness for compensatory postural adjustments in response to naturally occurring challenges of static postural stability (De Waele et al 2001; Slobounov et al 2009; Solis-Escalante et al 2019; Varghese et al 2019; Lehmann et al 2020). Mobile electroencephalography (EEG) has frequently been used to investigate cortical processing related to postural control, because the high mobility and enhanced portability allows investigations of cortical activity during upright stance (Wittenberg et al 2017) Most of these studies have typically focused on the quantification of immediate brain dynamics in response to mechanical perturbation of postural stability or sustained regulation of cortical activity during challenging continuous balance tasks (Wittenberg et al 2017), but investigations towards potential hemispheric activation patterns are lacking
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
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 call
