Postural Control In Older Adults With Vestibular Ocular Reflex Visual Conflict Task In Different Sensory Conditions : A Cross Sectional Study

As ageing is associated with several changes in each systems of the body which also includes alterations in the sensory systems that is the somatosensory, visual and vestibular systems. One of the major component of the vestibular system is the vestibular ocular reflex (VOR) which has been also shown to decline with ageing but to the best of my knowledge, its effectiveness and impact on elderly in postural control is still limited. How an individual will integrate or compensate when one or more of these are challenged including VOR is yet not evident. Clinically, the importance of sensory strategy incorporating VOR  is not established yet.

All the subjects will be informed about the nature, purpose, and possible risks involved in the study and an informed written consent will be taken from them prior to participation. All the subjects will be selected based on the inclusion criteria. Subjects will be familiarized for the activity. After recruitment , the subjects have to perform six sensory conditions: standing with Eyes Open and Eyes Closed on a Firm and Foam surface respectively and two additional conditions of VOR which involves the subject to keep the eyes fixed on a target in front  and simultaneously rotating the head horiziontally on firm and foam surface respectively. During the performance the subject will be tested for Muscle activation patterns, Centre of pressure sway. Lastly, postural analysis will be done to know the angular deviations. Overall, the study will give an idea of the role of VOR on postural control in elderly.