Improvement of Postural Stability During Quiet Standing Obtained After Mental Rotation of Foot Stimuli

ABSTRACT

In a study on postural stability, the authors examined whether the effects of mental rotation (MR) intervention using a foot stimulus would last for a relatively long time (up to 60 min). The participants performed a randomly assigned MR task (using foot stimuli, hand stimuli, or non–body-related stimuli [car]) for 10 min. The amount of body sway during unipedal standing was measured immediately after the intervention and 10, 30, and 60 min after the intervention. Results showed that MR intervention using foot stimuli was more effective than that using hand or car stimuli. This suggests that foot stimuli, rather than body-related stimuli, would be advantageous for the intervention. The results show that beneficial effects were observed 60 min after the intervention; this indicates that the effects of the foot MR were unlikely to be explained on the basis of enhanced corticospinal excitability involving motor execution. The authors discuss a potential explanation for the effects and application of the MR task in a clinical setting.

Keywords:

• motor imagery
• mental rotation
• postural balance
• rehabilitation