Perceptual Aspects of Postural Control: Does Pure Proprioceptive Training Exist?

Abstract

As proprioceptive training is popular for injury prevention and rehabilitation, we evaluated its effect on balance parameters and assessed the frequency spectra of postural sway linked with the various sensory channels. We recorded the Center of Mass displacement of 30 healthy student research participants (mean age = 21.63; SD = 1.29 years) with a single force plate under eyes open (EO) and eyes closed (EC) positions while standing on either a firm or foam surface, both before and after an 8-week balance training intervention on a foam surface with EC. We subjected the data to frequency power spectral analysis to find any differences between the frequency bands, linked with various sensory data. On the foam surface in the EC condition, the sway path decreased significantly after proprioceptive training, but, on the firm surface in the EC condition, there was no change. On the foam surface in the EC condition, there was also a significant decrease in frequency power postproprioceptive training in the medium-to-low frequency band. While our data indicate better posttraining balance skills, improvements were task specific to the trained condition, with no transfer of the acquired skill, even to a similar, easier condition. As training improved the middle-low frequency band, linked with vestibular signals, this intervention is better described as balance than "proprioceptive" training.

Effects of Increasing Balance Task Difficulty on Postural Sway and Muscle Activity in Healthy Adolescents

“…(Dohm-Acker et al, 2008; Muehlbauer et al, 2012; Cimadoro et al, 2013; Donath et al, 2016). However, a growing number of studies (Giboin et al, 2015, 2018; Freyler et al, 2016; Kümmel et al, 2016; Kiss et al, 2018; Makhlouf et al, 2018; Nagy et al, 2018) have clearly shown that balance is a highly task-specific. Therefore, it has to be trained and tested according to the specifics of the underlying task.…”

Balance in focus: a simple observational scale to monitor the effect of exercises on static balance in case of childhood flexible flat foot

“…During the measurements and training, we preferred the eyes closed instead of being blindfolded considering the different psychological effects of these two situations. Using a blindfold is a kind of constraint, which may create a feeling of uncertainty during balance measurement and result in a negative compensatory balance strategy that we wanted to avoid during testing and training periods, such as fixing or stiffening 16) .…”

“…Stiffening leads to inadequate acquisition of needed sensory information for planning and executing dynamic and interactive movements 18) and thus interferes with selective balance reactions. During the training, we also maximised proprioceptive sensory information through ongoing perturbations and challenges to the somatosensory and vestibular system by having participants stand on an unstable foam surface (Airex Balance Pad) rather than on a firm surface 16) . All data were subjected to Wilcoxon's matched-pair test to compare the effects of training on foot trajectory and observational static balance score.…”

The measurable parameters of balance trainings in case of young healthy adults: Improved balance confidence or better postural stability? A pilot study

“…Both the SG and IG groups performed the same exercise regime, on stable and unstable base of support respectively. To narrow and specify the perceptual aspects of our program, we focused on excluding visual information throughout the trainings by asking participants to keep their eyes closed for as long as possible [12].…”