Learned Overweight Internal Model Can Be Activated to Maintain Equilibrium When Tactile Cues Are Uncertain: Evidence From Cortical and Behavioral Approaches.

Human adaptive behavior in sensorimotor control is aimed to increase the confidence in feedforward mechanisms when sensory afferents are uncertain. It is thought that these feedforward mechanisms rely on predictions from internal models. We investigate whether the brain uses an internal model of physical laws (gravitational and inertial forces) to help estimate body equilibrium when tactile inputs from the foot sole are depressed by carrying extra weight.

Supplementary Motor Area and Superior Parietal Lobule Restore Sensory Facilitation Prior to Stepping When a Decrease of Afferent Inputs Occurs.

The weighting of the sensory inputs is not uniform during movement preparation and execution. For instance, a transient increase in the transmission to the cortical level of cutaneous input ~700 ms was observed before participants initiated a step forward. The sensory facilitation occurred at a time when feet cutaneous information is critical for setting the forces to be exerted onto the ground to shift the center of mass toward the supporting side prior to foot-off.

Plantar Sole Unweighting Alters the Sensory Transmission to the Cortical Areas.

It is well established that somatosensory inputs to the cortex undergo an early and a later stage of processing. The later has been shown to be enhanced when the earlier transmission decreased. In this framework, mechanical factors such as the mechanical stress to which sensors are subjected when wearing a loaded vest are associated with a decrease in sensory transmission.

Neural Consequences of Increasing Body Weight: Evidence from Somatosensory Evoked Potentials and the Frequency-Specificity of Brain Oscillations.

Previous studies on the control of human balance suggested that increased pressure under the feet, leading to reduced plantar sole mechanoreceptors sensitivity, increases body sway. Although this suggestion is attracting, it is unclear whether increased plantar sole pressure simply reduces the transmission of plantar sole afferent to the cortex or also alters the sensorimotor integrative mechanisms. Here we used electrical stimulation applied under the sole of the foot to probe the sensorimotor mechanisms processing foot mechanoreceptors.