Cortical Activation during Standing Balance in Modern Dancers Pubblico
Kerr, Kennedy (Spring 2023)
Abstract
Understanding when and how cortical resources are engaged in balance recovery is crucial for assessing balance health prior to diagnosed balance impairments. Following a balance perturbation, a large negative peak (N1) can be recorded by electroencephalography (EEG). We interpret N1 as an error assessment signal that may reflect varying reliance on cortical resources. Analysis of cortical neuronal oscillatory frequency can further characterize EEG activity. The beta band (13-30 Hz) is associated with movement initiation and sensorimotor integration crucial for balance. Here, we investigate whether the N1 response or beta power differ in sensorimotor integration and balance ability experts – professional modern dancers. Because modern dance emphasizes responding to sensory information and correcting balance errors without missing a beat, I hypothesize modern dancers require less cortical sensorimotor integration to maintain balance than non-dancers. I predict that N1 amplitudes following balance perturbations will be smaller in modern dancers than controls and scale with perturbation difficulty. I also predict that dancers will have less sensorimotor cortical beta power following a challenging balance perturbation, and that beta will scale with balance ability within both groups. Testing this hypothesis, we used EEG to record cortical activity throughout a series of support-surface perturbations at varying difficulty. Balance ability, assessed as the mean distance traveled across a narrowing beam was also compared against N1 amplitudes. Overall, N1 amplitudes scaled with perturbation difficulty (p<0.01), but there was a trend toward dancers having larger N1 amplitudes than controls despite having better balance. There was a visually observed decrease in beta power 150-250 ms post-perturbation, which is after the N1 response. These results differ slightly from my prediction because dancers’ N1 amplitudes did not scale with balance ability and were larger than controls while beta power was still less in dancers. N1 amplitude alone may not be a biomarker of worse performance on balance tasks, but rather an error assessment signal that can be sensitized by training.
Table of Contents
1 Background 1
1.1 Introduction 1
1.2 Cortical Control of Balance 2
1.3 Electroencephalography (EEG) 3
1.4 Cortical Activity in Expert Cohorts 4
1.5 Hypothesis 5
2 Methods 6
2.1 Participants 6
2.2 Experimental Protocol 7
2.2.1 The Step Threshold Series 7
2.2.2 Planned and Unplanned Stepping Perturbations 8
2.3 BalanceAbility 9
2.4 Data Analysis 9
2.4.1 EEG Pre-processing 9
2.4.2 Quantifying N1 amplitude and Beta Power 9
3 Results 12
3.0.1 N1 amplitudes scaled with perturbation difficulty and expectedness 12
3.0.2 N1 amplitudes trend greater in dancers than non-dancers 12
3.0.3 N1 Amplitude Did not scale with Balance ability 13
3.0.4 In exemplar data, beta decreased less in dancers post-N1 13
4 Discussion and Conclusions 15
4.1 Discussion 15
4.1.1 N1 amplitudes scaled with perturbation difficulty and expectedness 15
4.1.2 N1 amplitudes trend greater in dancers than non-dancers 16
4.1.3 N1 Amplitude Did Not Scale With Balance ability 16
4.1.4 In exemplar data, beta decreased less in dancers post-N1 17
4.1.5 Limitations of EEG 17
4.1.6 Cohort Size 18
4.1.7 Sex Matching 19
4.1.8 Potential Implications for Balance Rehabilitation 19
4.2 Conclusions 20
Bibliography 21
About this Honors Thesis
| School | |
|---|---|
| Department | |
| Degree | |
| Submission | |
| Language |
|
| Research Field | |
| Parola chiave | |
| Committee Chair / Thesis Advisor | |
| Committee Members |
Primary PDF
| Thumbnail | Title | Date Uploaded | Actions |
|---|---|---|---|
|
|
Cortical Activation during Standing Balance in Modern Dancers () | 2023-04-13 12:52:34 -0400 |
|
Supplemental Files
| Thumbnail | Title | Date Uploaded | Actions |
|---|