Mechanistic model of multisensory postural control

描述（由申请人提供）：本研究的长期目标是了解神经系统如何融合来自多个感觉系统的信息以控制直立姿势。自适应地选择和重新加权替代方向参考的能力被认为是患者和老年人群中姿势控制的关键因素。尽管多感觉重新加权的重要性，很少有人知道它是如何实现的。我们已经开发出一种新的实验范式，同时操纵两个感官输入（视觉和触觉），以探测多感觉整合的属性。与此同时，我们已经开发了一个独特的两步建模方法，使用时间序列技术和机械模型，以确定哪些特征的姿势摇摆可以：i）归因于估计或控制;和ii）区分不同的估计机制用于多感官重新加权。在这里，我们专注于模拟过程中的多感官在不断变化的感官环境中重新加权。我们的目标是开发一个机械模型，将明确的基础生理子系统的姿势控制。未来的工作将解决患者群体与类似的技术，以确定他们的平衡赤字的基础。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The long-term goal of this research is to understand how the nervous system fuses information from multiple sensory systems for the control of upright stance. The ability to select and reweight alternative orientation references adaptively is considered a critical factor for postural control in patient and elderly populations. Despite the importance of multisensory reweighting, little is known about how it is achieved. We have developed a new experimental paradigm that simultaneously manipulates two sensory inputs (vision and touch) to probe the properties of multisensory integration. In parallel, we have developed a unique two-step modeling approach using time series techniques and mechanistic models to determine which characteristics of postural sway can: i) be attributed to estimation or control; and ii) distinguish different mechanisms of estimation used for multisensory reweighting. Here we focus on modeling the process of multisensory reweighting in changing sensory environments. The goal is to develop a mechanistic model that will explicitly link underlying physiological subsystems to postural control. Future work will address patient populations with similar techniques to determine the basis of their balance deficits.