IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jijerp/v19y2022i17p10796-d901782.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The Speed of Optic Flow Stimuli Influences Body Sway

Author

Listed:
  • Milena Raffi

    (Department of Biomedical and Neuromotor Sciences, University of Bologna, 40126 Bologna, Italy)

  • Aurelio Trofè

    (Department of Quality of Life, University of Bologna, 47921 Rimini, Italy)

  • Andrea Meoni

    (Department of Biomedical and Neuromotor Sciences, University of Bologna, 40126 Bologna, Italy)

  • Alessandro Piras

    (Department of Biomedical and Neuromotor Sciences, University of Bologna, 40126 Bologna, Italy)

Abstract

Optic flow is a perceptual cue processed for self-motion control. The aim of this study was to investigate whether postural control is modulated by the speed of radial optic flow stimuli. The experiments were performed on 20 healthy volunteers using stabilometry and surface electromyography (EMG). The subjects were instructed to fixate a central fixation point while radial optic flow stimuli were presented full field, in the foveal and in the peripheral visual field at different dots speed (8, 11, 14, 17 and 20°/s). Fixation in the dark was used as control stimulus. The EMG analysis showed that male and female subjects reacted to the stimuli with different muscle activity (main effects for gender, muscle and laterality: p < 0.001). The analysis of the center of pressure (COP) parameters showed that optic flow stimuli had a different effect on the left and right limbs of males and females (main effects of laterality: p < 0.015; interaction effects of gender and laterality: p < 0.016). The low speed of optic flow stimuli (8 and 11°/s) evoked non-uniform directions of oscillations especially in peripheral stimulation in all subjects, meaning that optic flow simulating slow self-motion stabilizes body sway.

Suggested Citation

  • Milena Raffi & Aurelio Trofè & Andrea Meoni & Alessandro Piras, 2022. "The Speed of Optic Flow Stimuli Influences Body Sway," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(17), pages 1-11, August.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:19:y:2022:i:17:p:10796-:d:901782
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/19/17/10796/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/19/17/10796/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Kentaro Horiuchi & Kuniyasu Imanaka & Masami Ishihara, 2021. "Postural sway in the moving room scenario: New evidence for functional dissociation between self-motion perception and postural control," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 16(9), pages 1-20, September.
    2. Ying-hui Chou & Robert C. Wagenaar & Elliot Saltzman & J. Erik Giphart & Daniel Young & Rosa Davidsdottir & Alice Cronin-Golomb, 2009. "Effects of Optic Flow Speed and Lateral Flow Asymmetry on Locomotion in Younger and Older Adults: A Virtual Reality Study," The Journals of Gerontology: Series B, The Gerontological Society of America, vol. 64(2), pages 222-231.
    3. Milena Raffi & Aurelio Trofè & Andrea Meoni & Luca Gallelli & Alessandro Piras, 2022. "Optic Flow Speed and Retinal Stimulation Influence Microsaccades," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(11), pages 1-10, June.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.

      Corrections

      All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:19:y:2022:i:17:p:10796-:d:901782. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

      If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

      If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

      If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

      For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

      Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

      IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.