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When is Vestibular Information Important During Walking?

¹School of Human Kinetics, The University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia V6T 1Z1; ²International Collaboration on Repair Discoveries, Vancouver, British Columbia V6T 1Z1; ³Department of Rehabilitation, Faculty of Medicine, Laval University, G1K 7P4 Quebec; ⁴Center for Interdisciplinary Research in Rehabilitation and Social Integration, Quebec Rehabilitation Institute, Quebec G1M 2S8, Canada

Submitted 23 December 2003; accepted in final form 20 April 2004

Locomotion relies on vision, somatosensory input, and vestibular information. Both vision and somatosensory signals have been shown to be phase dependently modulated during locomotion; however, the regulation of vestibular information has not been investigated in humans. By delivering galvanic vestibular stimulation (GVS) to subjects at either heel contact, mid-stance, or toe-off, it was possible to investigate when vestibular information was important during the gait cycle. The results indicated a difference in the vestibular regulation of upper versus lower body control. Upper body responses to GVS applied at different times did not differ in magnitude for the head (P = 0.2383), trunk (P = 0.1473), or pelvis (P = 0.1732) showing a similar dependence on vestibular information for upper body alignment across the gait cycle. In contrast, foot placement was dependent on the time when stimulation was delivered. Changes in foot placement were significantly larger at heel contact (during the double support phase) than when stimulation was delivered at mid-stance (in the single support phase of the gait cycle; P = 0.0193). These latter results demonstrate, for the first time, evidence of phase-dependent modulation of vestibular information during human walking.

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