- Methods: Body sway was analyzed by measuring the center of pressure (CoP) in 10 healthy participants on a pressure-sensitive treadmill during standing and walking at 0.4 or 0.8 m/s. Continuous SVS (0–25 Hz; peak amplitude at±4.5 mA) was delivered by a bipolar binaural electrode configuration over the mastoid processes to evoke postural responses in the roll plane. Time-dependent coherence between SVS and medio-lateral body sway was analyzed to examine the dynamic impact of vestibular cues during locomotion. HMP was estimated using a previously established model (MacNeilage and Glasauer, 2017).
Results: SVS-CoP coherence decreased from standing to slow walking and further decreased with increasing locomotor speed (p< 0.001). Correspondingly, HMP increased with faster locomotion (p= 0.001). SVS-CoP coherence depended on the gait cycle phase with two distinct peaks occurring at 25 …