We are pleased to announce that Solenne Villemer, from the Neural Control of Posture and Movement Lab, has successfully defended her Master’s thesis titled "Implicit adaptation to galvanic vestibular perturbations during goal-directed postural movements".
Under the supervision of Dr. Mark Carpenter and Dr. Tim Inglis, Solenne’s work explored how the brain adapts to altered vestibular information during a dynamic balance task.
Using small electrical stimulation behind participant’s ears to perturb the vestibular system (known as galvanic vestibular stimulation, GVS), Solenne examined how people adapt their balance during a forward leaning task. When first exposed to the stimulation, participants’ movements deviated to one side, causing them to miss the target. After 100 trials with the stimulation, participants became more accurate at hitting the target, even though they continued to lean with curved trajectories.
Most interestingly, when the stimulation was turned off, participants’ leans deviated in the opposite direction – even when explicitly aware that the stimulation was no longer present. This aftereffect provides compelling evidence that the brain had unconsciously adapted the movements to compensate for the vestibular perturbation.
Solenne's findings demonstrate that rapid, short-term vestibular adaptation occurs during goal-directed whole-body movements, adding valuable insights to the growing interest in understanding how the brain processes and adapts to novel vestibular information. This research could inform training protocols and rehabilitation strategies to address balance deficits experienced by astronauts returning from space travel or individuals with vestibular disorders.
Want to learn more ? Read the full thesis here.
