Robotic balance simulator to characterize the adaptability and sensory code underlying the control of standing balance in humans

站直几乎是毫不费力的。在某些方面，我们站立的平衡就像我们的呼吸：两者都可以不自觉地发生，但我们可以意识到我们的平衡和呼吸，并在需要时有意识地控制。我们对直立姿势的有意识感知与其自动控制之间的联系最近受到了质疑。关键问题已经提出：我们的大脑和神经系统如何适应不断变化的姿势环境和挑战（例如，站在坚实的地面上vs站在站立的桨板上）？我们的神经系统使用什么感觉信息来进行调整？我们是否有意识地意识到我们的神经系统用来维持和适应我们的平衡的信号？

Standing upright is almost effortless. In some ways, our standing balance is like our breathing: both can happen involuntarily, yet we can be aware of our balance and breathing, and take conscious control if needed. The links between our conscious perception of upright posture and its automatic control have been recently questioned. Critical issues have been raised: How do our brain and nervous system adapt to changing postural environments and challenges (e.g. standing on firm ground vs on a stand-up paddle board)? What sensory information does our nervous system use to make adjustments? Are we consciously aware of the signals used by our nervous system to maintain and adapt our balance? The requested equipment will enable us to address these key research questions that could not be answered without it. We will build a one-of-a-kind robotic balance simulator (combined with a non-conductive force platform) that will allow us to test our balance system’s ability to adapt and characterize our perception of these adaptations. We will test this adaptability by breaking the close link between the nervous system’s motor output from its mechanical outcomes. The robotic balance simulator will permit us to explore the limits of our strategies to control balance, and reveal key features of how our brain encodes, decodes and makes use of sensory information to stand upright. In addition, the custom-designed robotic balance simulator will allow us to record activity directly from nerves in awake humans to determine the neural information underlying the control of standing balance. This represents a research frontier that will be enabled by the unique design of the robotic balance simulator. The robotic balance simulator requested in this proposal will accelerate innovative discoveries, allowing our research team to describe the neural information that is involved in standing balance. The novel findings enabled by this unique equipment will foster new modelling avenues for the control of standing in robots designed to mimic humans. The immediate beneficiaries of this work will be researchers and research trainees working in the areas of neuroscience, physiology, balance control, computer science and engineering. These innovations will also benefit clinical researchers and clinicians, informing them about the limits and adaptability of our nervous system in controlling balance and ultimately will paving the way for the development of new balance training and rehabilitation strategies.