Abstract
Although the application of sub-sensory mechanical noise to the soles of the feet has been shown to enhance balance, there has been no study on how the bandwidth of the noise affects balance. Here, we report a single-blind randomized controlled study on the effects of a narrow and wide bandwidth mechanical noise on healthy young subjects’ sway during quiet standing on firm and compliant surfaces. For the firm surface, there was no improvement in balance for both bandwidths—this may be because the young subjects could already balance near-optimally or optimally on the surface by themselves. For the compliant surface, balance improved with the introduction of wide but not narrow bandwidth noise, and balance is improved for wide compared to narrow bandwidth noise. This could be explained using a simple model, which suggests that adding noise to a sub-threshold pressure stimulus results in markedly different frequency of nerve impulse transmitted to the brain for the narrow and wide bandwidth noise—the frequency is negligible for the former but significantly higher for the latter. Our results suggest that if a person’s standing balance is not optimal (for example, due to aging), it could be improved by applying a wide bandwidth noise to the feet.
Highlights
The application of sub-sensory mechanical noise to the soles of the feet has been shown to enhance balance, there has been no study on how the bandwidth of the noise affects balance
In this paper, we study the effect of sub-sensory mechanical noise with two different bandwidths: (1) a narrow bandwidth with a low maximum frequency and (2) a wider bandwidth with a higher maximum frequency on the balance of healthy young subjects during quiet standing on firm and compliant surfaces
Our experimental results for the compliant surface show that mechanical noise with different bandwidths have different effects on balance
Summary
The application of sub-sensory mechanical noise to the soles of the feet has been shown to enhance balance, there has been no study on how the bandwidth of the noise affects balance. As an individual’s ability to balance begins to deteriorate the individual becomes increasingly susceptible to falls and trips which may lead to injuries or even d eath[2,3,4,5,6] This is especially true for older adults who are aged above 65, where falls have been reported to be a major cause of death[7]. The results from the two studies were inconsistent—some sway parameters increased in Priplata et al.[16] but not in Priplata et al.[15] for similar groups of healthy young adults In another example, the results of Priplata et al.[16] and Dettmer et al.[18], which utilized similar mechanical transducers. But different electrical white noise bandwidths, were inconsistent—sway parameters improved for healthy young subjects in Priplata et al.[16] (1–100 Hz) but not in Dettmer et al.[18] (1–500 Hz)
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