Real sounds influence postural stability in people with vestibular loss but not in healthy controls.

ABSTRACT:

Objective

What we hear may influence postural control, particularly in people with vestibular hypofunction. Would hearing a moving subway destabilize people similarly to seeing the train move? We investigated how people with unilateral vestibular hypofunction and healthy controls incorporated broadband and real-recorded sounds with visual load for balance in an immersive contextual scene.

Design

Participants stood on foam placed on a force-platform, wore the HTC Vive headset, and observed an immersive subway environment. Each 60-second condition repeated twice: static or dynamic visual with no sound or static white noise or real recorded subway station sounds [real] played from headphones.

Setting

Human motion laboratory.

Participants

41 healthy controls (mean

SUBMITTER: Lubetzky AV 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11760032 | biostudies-literature | 2025

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature