Ancestral persistence of vestibulo-spinal reflexes in axial muscles in humans

Abstract

Accurate control of the trunk is essential for maintaining balance in an upright subject. Most studies addressing vestibulo-spinal reflexes have investigated the role of the lower limbs, while limited attention has been paid to the back muscles. To address this issue, we challenged the persistence of vestibular evoked myogenic potentials (VEMPs) in back muscles in situations in which the leg muscle responses were modulated. Nineteen subjects were submitted to galvanic vestibular stimulations (GVS). Body sway and VEMPs were recorded in the paraspinal and limb muscles. During treadmill locomotion, the VEMPS in the lower limbs were observed only during the stance phase, whereas the axial VEMPs were observed during all phases. In upright standing subjects, slight head contact was sufficient to abolish the VEMPs in the lower limbs, while the VEMPs remained present in the paraspinal muscles. Similarly, during parabolic flight-induced microgravity, the VEMPs in the lower limb muscles were suppressed, while those in the axial muscles persisted despite the absence of gravitational information from the otolithic system. Our results depict a differentiated control mechanism of axial and appendicular muscles when a perturbation is detected by vestibular inputs. The persistent feature of axial myogenic adjustments suggests that a hard-wired reflex is functionally efficient to maintain posture. By contrast, the ankle responses to perturbations occur only when the accompanying sensory feedback is congruent, challenging the balance task and gravity. Overall, this study using GVS in microgravity is the first to present an approach delineating feed-forward vestibular control in the absence of all feedback.