Cortical midfrontal theta dynamics following foot strike may index response adaptation during reactive stepping
Abstract Reactive balance recovery often requires stepping responses to regain postural stability following a sudden change in posture. The monitoring of postural stability has been linked to neuroelectrical markers such as the N1 potential and midfrontal theta frequency dynamics. Here, we investiga...
| Main Authors: | , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Nature Portfolio
2022-10-01
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| Series: | Scientific Reports |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-022-22755-3 |
| _version_ | 1798028594961711104 |
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| author | Mitchel Stokkermans Wouter Staring Michael X. Cohen Teodoro Solis-Escalante Vivian Weerdesteyn |
| author_facet | Mitchel Stokkermans Wouter Staring Michael X. Cohen Teodoro Solis-Escalante Vivian Weerdesteyn |
| author_sort | Mitchel Stokkermans |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract Reactive balance recovery often requires stepping responses to regain postural stability following a sudden change in posture. The monitoring of postural stability has been linked to neuroelectrical markers such as the N1 potential and midfrontal theta frequency dynamics. Here, we investigated the role of cortical midfrontal theta dynamics during balance monitoring following foot landing of a reactive stepping response to recover from whole-body balance perturbations. We hypothesized that midfrontal theta dynamics reflect the engagement of a behavioral monitoring system, and therefore that theta would increase time-locked to the moment of foot strike after a stepping response, coinciding with a re-assessment of postural balance to determine if an additional step is necessary. We recorded high-density EEG and kinematic data of 15 healthy young participants while they stood on a platform that delivered multi-directional balance perturbations. Participants were instructed to recover balance with a single step utilizing either their left or right leg (in separate blocks). We used targeted spatial filtering (generalized eigen decomposition) in combination with time–frequency analysis of the EEG data to investigate whether theta dynamics increase following foot strike event. In line with our hypothesis, the results indicate that the foot strike event elicits a midfrontal theta power increase, though only for backward stepping. Counter to our expectations, however, this theta power increase was positively correlated with the margin of stability at foot strike, suggesting a different role of foot strike related theta from monitoring stability. Post-hoc analysis suggests that midfrontal theta dynamics following foot landing may instead facilitate adaptation of stability margins at subsequent stepping responses. We speculate that increase of theta power following foot strikes was not related to stability monitoring but instead may indicate cortical dynamics related to performance monitoring of the balance response. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-11T19:10:34Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-3e6f9e8d82a04d64a124cad699ac8722 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2045-2322 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-11T19:10:34Z |
| publishDate | 2022-10-01 |
| publisher | Nature Portfolio |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Scientific Reports |
| spelling | doaj.art-3e6f9e8d82a04d64a124cad699ac87222022-12-22T04:07:37ZengNature PortfolioScientific Reports2045-23222022-10-0112111110.1038/s41598-022-22755-3Cortical midfrontal theta dynamics following foot strike may index response adaptation during reactive steppingMitchel Stokkermans0Wouter Staring1Michael X. Cohen2Teodoro Solis-Escalante3Vivian Weerdesteyn4Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behaviour, Radboud University Medical CenterDonders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behaviour, Radboud University Medical CenterDepartment of Synchronisation in Neural Systems, Donders Institute for Brain Cognition and BehaviorDonders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behaviour, Radboud University Medical CenterDonders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behaviour, Radboud University Medical CenterAbstract Reactive balance recovery often requires stepping responses to regain postural stability following a sudden change in posture. The monitoring of postural stability has been linked to neuroelectrical markers such as the N1 potential and midfrontal theta frequency dynamics. Here, we investigated the role of cortical midfrontal theta dynamics during balance monitoring following foot landing of a reactive stepping response to recover from whole-body balance perturbations. We hypothesized that midfrontal theta dynamics reflect the engagement of a behavioral monitoring system, and therefore that theta would increase time-locked to the moment of foot strike after a stepping response, coinciding with a re-assessment of postural balance to determine if an additional step is necessary. We recorded high-density EEG and kinematic data of 15 healthy young participants while they stood on a platform that delivered multi-directional balance perturbations. Participants were instructed to recover balance with a single step utilizing either their left or right leg (in separate blocks). We used targeted spatial filtering (generalized eigen decomposition) in combination with time–frequency analysis of the EEG data to investigate whether theta dynamics increase following foot strike event. In line with our hypothesis, the results indicate that the foot strike event elicits a midfrontal theta power increase, though only for backward stepping. Counter to our expectations, however, this theta power increase was positively correlated with the margin of stability at foot strike, suggesting a different role of foot strike related theta from monitoring stability. Post-hoc analysis suggests that midfrontal theta dynamics following foot landing may instead facilitate adaptation of stability margins at subsequent stepping responses. We speculate that increase of theta power following foot strikes was not related to stability monitoring but instead may indicate cortical dynamics related to performance monitoring of the balance response.https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-022-22755-3 |
| spellingShingle | Mitchel Stokkermans Wouter Staring Michael X. Cohen Teodoro Solis-Escalante Vivian Weerdesteyn Cortical midfrontal theta dynamics following foot strike may index response adaptation during reactive stepping Scientific Reports |
| title | Cortical midfrontal theta dynamics following foot strike may index response adaptation during reactive stepping |
| title_full | Cortical midfrontal theta dynamics following foot strike may index response adaptation during reactive stepping |
| title_fullStr | Cortical midfrontal theta dynamics following foot strike may index response adaptation during reactive stepping |
| title_full_unstemmed | Cortical midfrontal theta dynamics following foot strike may index response adaptation during reactive stepping |
| title_short | Cortical midfrontal theta dynamics following foot strike may index response adaptation during reactive stepping |
| title_sort | cortical midfrontal theta dynamics following foot strike may index response adaptation during reactive stepping |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-022-22755-3 |
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