Postural control relies on the integration of multisensory information, including visual, vestibular, and somatosensory inputs to generate coordinated neuromuscular responses. In blind people, the absence of visual input leads to adaptive changes in postural strategies to maintain balance. This study investigated intermuscular connectivity during upright postures in a blind neuroprosthesis user to determine how electrically evoked visual percepts induced by primary visual cortex stimulation influence muscle network organization during postural control. The results were compared with those obtained from control subjects under open and closed eyes conditions. Surface EMG was recorded from ten lower-limb muscles during standing feet apart and tandem postural conditions. Intermuscular coherence was estimated, and muscle networks were characterized using graph-theoretical analysis and global efficiency metrics in the gamma frequency band. In the blind participant, cortical visual stimulation significantly increased gamma-band global efficiency compared to the no-stimulation condition, yielding muscle network configurations similar to those observed in controls. No significant differences were found between eyes-open and eyes-closed conditions in controls, nor during tandem stance. These findings provide the first evidence that electrically evoked visual perception, induced by primary visual cortex stimulation in a blind neuroprosthesis user, can modulate the organization of the neuromuscular network underlying upright postural control.

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Visual Cortex Stimulation Modulates Muscle Networks Underlying Postural Control in Blindness

  • Ana Lía Albarracín,
  • Leonardo Ariel Cano,
  • Fernando Daniel Farfán,
  • Eduardo Fernández

摘要

Postural control relies on the integration of multisensory information, including visual, vestibular, and somatosensory inputs to generate coordinated neuromuscular responses. In blind people, the absence of visual input leads to adaptive changes in postural strategies to maintain balance. This study investigated intermuscular connectivity during upright postures in a blind neuroprosthesis user to determine how electrically evoked visual percepts induced by primary visual cortex stimulation influence muscle network organization during postural control. The results were compared with those obtained from control subjects under open and closed eyes conditions. Surface EMG was recorded from ten lower-limb muscles during standing feet apart and tandem postural conditions. Intermuscular coherence was estimated, and muscle networks were characterized using graph-theoretical analysis and global efficiency metrics in the gamma frequency band. In the blind participant, cortical visual stimulation significantly increased gamma-band global efficiency compared to the no-stimulation condition, yielding muscle network configurations similar to those observed in controls. No significant differences were found between eyes-open and eyes-closed conditions in controls, nor during tandem stance. These findings provide the first evidence that electrically evoked visual perception, induced by primary visual cortex stimulation in a blind neuroprosthesis user, can modulate the organization of the neuromuscular network underlying upright postural control.