Effect of vibration-induced postural illusion on anticipatory postural adjustment of voluntary arm movement in standing humans

We investigated the contribution of sensory signals arising from muscle proprioceptive receptors to anticipatory postural adjustments (APAs). During vibration applied to ankle (tibialis anterior; TA, soleus; Sol) or neck muscles, subjects generally describe having illusory sensations of whole-body movement, namely, whole-body movement in a backward and forward direction induced by vibration of the Sol or TA, respectively, and the front or back surface of the neck muscles, respectively. Preceding electromyographic (EMG) activity of the ipsilateral biceps femoris (BFi) muscle induced by rapid voluntary arm movement and the typical phenomenon of APA were changed dependent on these illusory whole-body movements, with preceding EMG activities of BFi appearing earlier in vibration applied to TA and later in vibration applied to Sol muscle. In vibration applied to the back surface of neck muscle, preceding EMG activities of BFi appeared earlier, as with vibration applied to TA. On the contrary, in vibration applied to the front surface of neck muscles, preceding EMG activities of BFi appeared later, as with vibration applied to Sol. Based on these results, we discuss changes in the central processing of proprioceptive signals used for coding of the spatial orientation of the body and its contribution to postural stabilization.