Internal Consistency of Sway Measures via Embedded Head-Mounted Accelerometers: Implications for Neuromotor Investigations

Abstract

Accelerometers are being increasingly incorporated into neuroimaging devices to enable real-time filtering of movement artifacts. In this study, we evaluate the reliability of sway metrics derived from these accelerometers in a standard eyes-open balance assessment to determine their utility in multimodal study designs. Ten participants equipped with a head-mounted accelerometer performed an eyes-open standing condition on 7 consecutive days. Sway performance was quantified with 4 standard metrics: root-mean-square (RMS) acceleration, peak-to-peak (P2P) acceleration, jerk, and ellipse area. Intraclass correlation coefficients (ICC) quantified reliability. P2P in both the mediolateral (ICC = 0.65) and anteroposterior (ICC = 0.67) planes yielded the poorest reliability. Both ellipse area and RMS exhibited good reliability, ranging from 0.76 to 0.84 depending on the plane. Finally, jerk displayed the highest reliability with an ICC value of 0.95. Moderate to excellent reliability was observed in all sway metrics. These findings demonstrate that head-mounted accelerometers, commonly found in neuroimaging devices, can be used to reliably assess sway. These data validate the use of head-mounted accelerometers in the assessment of motor control alongside other measures of brain activity such as electroencephalography (EEG) and functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS).

Influence of sex on the reliability of cerebral blood velocity regulation during lower body negative pressure and supine cycling with considerations of the menstrual cycle

“…Males were an average age of 24.2 ± 1.6 years and had a body mass index of 25.3 ± 5.3 kg m −2 . Participants were considered for the study if they were free from cardiorespiratory and/or cerebrovascular conditions (and any comorbidities) and were at least 6 months removed from their last concussion (Lapointe et al 2021). Prior to all visits, participants were instructed to abstain from caffeine, alcohol, smoking, vaping, and exercise for a minimum of 8 h prior to the start of data collection (Burma et al 2020).…”