Many studies were interested in the consequence of vestibular dysfunction related to cochlear implantation on balance control. This pilot study aimed to assess the effects of unilateral cochlear implantation on the modalities of balance control and sensorimotor strategies. Posturographic and vestibular evaluations were performed in 10 patients (55 ± 20 years) with profound hearing loss who were candidates to undergo unilateral multichannel cochlear implantation. The evaluation was carried out shortly before and one year after surgery. Posturographic tests were also performed in 10 age-matched healthy participants (63 ± 16 years). Vestibular compensation was observed within one year. In addition, postural performances of the patients increased within one year after cochlear implantation, especially in the more complex situations, in which sensory information is either unavailable or conflicting. Before surgery, postural performances were higher in the control group compared to the patients’ group. One year after cochlear implantation, postural control was close to normalize. The improvement of postural performance could be explained by a mechanism of vestibular compensation. In addition, the recovery of auditory information which is the consequence of cochlear implantation could lead to an extended exploration of the environment possibly favoring the development of new balance strategies.

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the influence of technical and core stability parameters on rowing ergometer performance defined as mean power at the handle. Twenty-four high-level rowers were evaluated at their competitive stroke rate on an instrumented RowPerfect 3 ergometer to determine leg, trunk and arm power output, while trunk and pelvis 3D kinematics were measured. Linear mixed models revealed that mean power at the handle was predicted by the power output of legs, trunk and arms (r² = 0.99), with trunk power being the best predictor. Time to peak power, work ratio and mean to peak power ratio were relevant technical parameters significantly predicting the different segments' power. In addition, a greater trunk range of motion significantly influenced the power produced by this segment. Accordingly, achieving an earlier peak power together with enhanced work production at the trunk and arm levels, as well as distributing the segments power over the whole drive phase, could serve as recommendations for technical training of rowers on dynamic ergometers in order to produce higher power output. Furthermore, the trunk appears to play a major role as a power producer within the kinetic chain from the legs to the arms.

Today, falls constitute a substantial health problem, especially in the elderly, and the diagnostic tests used by clinicians present often a low sensitivity and specificity. This is the case for the Timed Up and Go test which lacks contextualization with regard to everyday life limiting the relevance of its diagnosis. Virtual reality enables the creation of immersive, reproducible and secure environments, close to situations encountered in daily life, and as such could improve falling risk assessment. This study aims to evaluate the effect of immersive virtual reality by wearing a virtual reality headset with a non-disturbing virtual environment compared to real world on the Timed Up and Go test completion. Thirty-one elders (73.7 ± 9 years old) volunteered to participate in the study and the mean times and number of steps to complete a Timed Up and Go were compared in two conditions: actual-world clinical and virtual reality conditions. The results showed that the mean completion times and most of the mean number of steps of the Timed Up and Go in virtual reality condition were significantly different to those in clinical condition. These results suggest that there is a virtual reality effect and this effect is significantly correlated to the time taken to complete the Timed Up and Go. This information will be of interest to quantify the potential part of virtual reality effect on the motor control, measured in a virtual task using virtual controlled disturbances.

Postural performance may vary according to the constraints related to the practice of different martial arts. This study aimed to investigate the visual and tactile contribution in balance control: (i) between karatekas and sedentary controls; (ii) between kata and kumite specialists within the elite karatekas. Balance control in quiet stance of 23 high-level karatekas (11 kata and 12 kumite specialists) and of 24 sedentary controls was evaluated in four sensory context conditions, a combination of visual cue availability (eyes open or closed) and tactile support reliability (firm or foam surface). The results showed that karatekas had a reduced body sway and a smaller sway area compared to controls, especially in the more challenging condition, i.e. eyes closed on a foam surface. Moreover, kata karatekas tended to have a reduced body sway and a smaller sway area than kumite karatekas in all sensory conditions. The practice of karate may enhance balance control in quiet stance by optimizing the role of tactile cues and by decreasing the weighting of visual cues. Moreover, the specialization into different karateka practices may induce the implementation of specific postural strategies to solve a given balance problem.