Sensorimotor control of balance

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Human standing is almost effortless. In some ways, our balance system is like our respiratory system: both happen involuntarily, yet we are aware of their actions and can control them if needed. The proposed research program will explore how the brain regulates the automatic control of standing balance, leaving us with the remarkable sensation that standing is easy. Three specific research objectives will be addressed: 1) determine how foot loading forces contribute to the modulation of balance activity, 2) establish what sensorimotor information engages the balance system and 3) understand how sensorimotor information is transformed in the balance system.** The experiments proposed here will use a newly developed standing balance robot that allows the dissociation of the nervous system motor output from its mechanical consequences. This apparatus will provide novel insights on the control of standing balance by allowing us to ask questions that could not be answered without it. Using this robot, in combination with recording and stimulation techniques, the physiological mechanisms underlying the automatic control of standing balance will be explored. This research is important to understand how our nervous system recognizes a motor activity as relevant to posture and how it consequently activates the balance control system. In particular, the role of the vestibular system in recognizing a motor behaviour as posturally-relevant will be studied. Also, the possibility that sensory information from our feet have an important role in facilitating the automatic control of standing will be investigated. ** The validation of the methods described in this proposal will have the potential to redirect physiological and clinical research into human sensorimotor function and propose new modelling avenues for the robotic control of standing. The principal beneficiaries of this work will be researchers working in the areas of neuroscience, postural control, computer science and engineering.**********