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Vestibular postural control model

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Abstract

Current models for physiological components and a posture control experiment conducted with three normal subjects form the basis for a model which seeks to describe quantitatively the control of body sway when only vestibular motion cues are used. Emphasis is placed on delineating the relative functional roles of the linear and the angular acceleration sensors and on modeling the functional interface between these sensors and the initiation of compensatory responses at the ankle joint.

The model predicts the form of the postural response to a small sway disturbance; including initial detection of sway, characteristics of the transient correction, and maintenance of stability. The model suggests that postural stability requires a short time constant integration of semicircular canal output. Separation of semicircular canal and utricular otolith function into sway motion detector and static reference sensors respectively is demonstrated.

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Author notes

  1. Lewis M. Nashner

    Present address: Laboratory of Neurophysiology, Good Samaritan Hospital & Medical Center, 1015 N.W. Twenty Second Avenue, 97210, Portland, Oregon, USA

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA

    Lewis M. Nashner

Authors
  1. Lewis M. Nashner
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Additional information

This work was supported by NASA under Grant NGR-22-009-156.

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Nashner, L.M. Vestibular postural control model. Kybernetik 10, 106–110 (1972). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00292236

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00292236

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