Transcutaneous spinal cord stimulation (tSCS) is a promising noninvasive alternative to epidural stimulation. However, further studies are needed to clarify how tSCS affects postural control. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of transcutaneous cervical spinal cord stimulation on postural stability in healthy participants via computerized stabilization. The center of pressure and the frequency spectrum of the statokinesiogram were assessed in 14 healthy volunteers under tSCS conditions with frequencies of 5 Hz or 30 Hz, subthreshold or suprathreshold stimulus strength, open or closed eyes, and hard or soft surfaces in various combinations. The results revealed that not all the changes in the center of the pressure oscillations reached statistical significance when the tSCS was used. However, tSCS at a frequency of 30 Hz with a suprathreshold stimulus strength improved postural stability. The use of subthreshold or suprathreshold tSCS at 5 Hz led to a shift of 60% of the signal power to the low-frequency range, indicating activation of the vestibular system. With tSCS at 30 Hz, the vestibular component remained dominant, but a decrease in the proportion of high-frequency oscillations was observed, which is associated with muscle proprioception. Thus, transcutaneous electrical stimulation of the cervical spinal cord may be an effective method for activating spinal cord neural networks capable of modulating postural control.

Individual differences in cognitive style—field-dependence/field-independence (FD/FI)—are thought to influence how sensory information is integrated for postural control. This study examined the impact of FD/FI on postural control during different sensory conditions. Forty-one healthy young adults were classified as FD (n = 18) or FI (n = 23) using the Gottschaldt Figures trial. Postural stability was assessed using a force platform. Participants completed a protocol of 60-s standing trials under different sensory conditions: eyes open (EO) or eyes closed (EC), on a hard (HS) or soft (SS) surface, and during exposure to a virtual reality (VR). Primary outcome measures included the ellipse area (ELLS), total path length (TL(y)) and average linear velocity (ALV(y)) of the center of pressure (CoP) in the sagittal plane and mean angular velocity (MAV) of CoP. Visual deprivation, proprioceptive disruption, and VR exposure increased postural sway in all participants, but with distinct group differences. With EC on HS, FI individuals demonstrated lower TL(y), ELLS, and ALV(y) compared to FD individuals, indicating more effective postural control in FI. A similar FI advantage was observed during standing on a SS with EO. VR exposure on HS destabilized FD participants, resulting in greater increases in postural sway parameters than in the FI group. FD individuals showed a faster return to baseline stability after the VR on an SS trial, whereas FI individuals showed a transient degradation in postural control immediately after VR exposure. These findings demonstrate that cognitive style predicts an individual’s strategy for maintaining and recovering balance under sensory conflict.

Despite the growing enthusiasm for the use of virtual reality in the clinic, some authors emphasize that a clear understanding of its effectiveness in cognitive and motor rehabilitation is lacking. The aim of this study is to evaluate the effects of virtual reality on postural stability and balance recovery in healthy subjects with different cognitive profiles and to identify how increasing the complexity of a postural task by using virtual reality affects balance maintaining. To assess the postural stability of the subject before, during and after viewing the video sequence in virtual reality goggles, we used the method of computer-assisted stabilometry and found the correlation between the scores on the cognitive style of field-dependence/field-independence and vector and dynamic stabilometric indices.