Auditory white noise reduces postural fluctuations even in the absence of vision

The Association between Hearing Loss, Postural Control, and Mobility in Older Adults: A Systematic Review

“…A key reason for considering hearing and HL as a factor contributing to fall accidents is that auditory information has been shown to be a sensory modality involved in postural control (Tanaka et al, 2001;Dozza et al, 2006;Ross and Balasubramaniam, 2015). Studies have shown that auditory biofeedback reduces sway and improves postural control (Dozza et al, 2011), more so than equivalent visual biofeedback (Dozza et al, 2006).…”

“…Studies have shown that auditory biofeedback reduces sway and improves postural control (Dozza et al, 2011), more so than equivalent visual biofeedback (Dozza et al, 2006). Specifically, Ross and Balasubramaniam (2015) assessed the role of auditory white noise in postural control in participants standing with eyes open or closed, and found that postural sway variability was reduced when auditory noise was introduced, especially when the participants were standing with their eyes closed. This reduction was attributed to stochastic resonance, that is, amplification of signals in the presence of noise, observed in threshold-based systems such as the nervous system.…”

The contribution of cochlear implants to postural stability

“…Our analysis demonstrated that sway reduction as a result of audition via cochlear implants occurred primarily in the AP direction, suggesting that implant‐related auditory balance contributions may have a direction‐dependent effect. Past work in a normal hearing population indicates that sound through headphones may reduce both AP and ML sway . It is not entirely surprising that cochlear implants may have a directional effect.…”

“…Past work in a normal hearing population indicates that sound through headphones may reduce both AP and ML sway. 29 It is not entirely surprising that cochlear implants may have a directional effect. The mechanism here relies on earth-fixed rather than head-fixed cues, and interaural level differences providing directional cues may be better in the frontal direction.…”

Posturale Regulation und Stabilität unter akustischem Input bei Normalhörenden

“…Dass das auditorische System dabei neben visuellen, propriozeptiven und vestibulären Reizen (bzw. Subsystemen) ebenfalls eine Rolle spielt, wurde bisher schon mehrfach an gesunden Probanden [5,8,9,11,17,18,28,31,33,35] wie auch an Patienten mit Hörrehabilitation gezeigt [10,19,29,30,33,34]. Dabei wurde in der Mehrzahl der Studien ein positiver Einfluss des Hörens auf das Gleichgewicht und die posturale Stabilität genannt.…”