Effects of Manipulating Optic Flow Gain on Dynamic Postural Control During Continuous Support Surface Translations

Human postural control involves interactions between visual, vestibular, and somatosensory systems to maintain upright stance. Quiet stance assesses posture when participants are standing still, and dynamic postural control has been assessed through use of moveable support surfaces. Limited work utilizes VR-induced optic flow with continuous platform translations to examine balance. SS oscillations perturbed participants in the A-P direction. Kinetic and kinematic information was quantified into center-of-pressure, center-of-mass, and joint and segment angles. We observed that as gain values increased, participants experienced a relative decrease in sway amplitude, and increases in both sway frequency and velocity, reflecting a tighter regulation of stance with greater visual information. These changes were generally more evident in the second minute of trials. By further examining dynamic postural control and its relationship with optic flow through VR, this thesis demonstrated the effectiveness of utilizing visual information to impact postural behaviours in young, healthy adults.