The role of the pressure information from the heel on the perception of the backward-leaning standing position

• Published in: Neuroscience letters Vol. 750; p. 135752
• Main Authors: Asai, Hitoshi, Inaoka, Pleiades T.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Ireland Elsevier B.V 17-04-2021
• Subjects: Backward leaning; Cooling; Heel - innervation; Heel - physiology; Heel pressure information; Humans; Male; Perception; Postural Balance; Pressure; Sensory weighting; Standing Position; Young Adult; Perception; Backward leaning; Cooling; Heel pressure information; Sensory weighting
• ISSN: 0304-3940; 1872-7972
• DOI: 10.1016/j.neulet.2021.135752

•Information from the heel may play a role on the backward leaning perception.•Perception of backward leaning is important to prevent falling backwards.•A cooling device was used to decrease the sensitivity of the heels.•Heel cooling significantly decreased the perception of a backward-leaning position.•Heel pressure information was essential to perceive a backward-leaning position.
The purpose of this study was to clarify the functional role of the heel pressure information for perceiving a backward-leaning position through a decrease in sensory information using local cooling on the heel in healthy participants (n = 11). The position of the center of pressure in the anteroposterior direction (CoPy position) while standing was represented as the percentage distance (%FL) from the hindmost point of the heel (0 %FL) in relation to the foot length. The most backward-leaning position was measured under cool-heel condition and normal-heel condition. The perceptibility of six reference positions (45 %FL, 40 %FL, 35 %FL, 30 %FL, 25 %FL, and 20 %FL) was evaluated with regard to the reproducibility of these positions under both heel conditions. The most backward-leaning position under cool-heel condition was located significantly further backward than that under normal-heel condition. The absolute error at 25 %FL under cool-heel condition was significantly larger than that under normal-heel condition. The sensory information from the heels may have a decisive meaning in the perception of the most backward-leaning position. At 25 %FL, there may be no other sources of sensory information for sensory reweighting aside from the heel pressure for position perception under cooled condition.