Investigating Optimal Noise Level for Imperceptible Vibrotactile Stimulation during a Force Stability Task

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Published: Mar 28, 2023
Updated: 2023-03-28
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2023-03-28 (2)
DOI: https://doi.org/10.51224/cik.2022.41
Keywords:
vibrotactile stimulation, Gaussian noise, somatosensory system, sub-sensory threshold, optimal stimulation

Main Article Content

Courtney A. Haynes
U.S. Combat Capabilities Development Command, Army Research Laboratory, Aberdeen Proving Ground, MD, USA
Matthew S. Tenan
Optimum Performance Analytics Associates, Apex, NC, USA
Antony D. Passaro
U.S. Combat Capabilities Development Command, Army Research Laboratory, ARL West, Playa Vista, CA, USA
Andrew J. Tweedell
U.S. Combat Capabilities Development Command, Army Research Laboratory, Aberdeen Proving Ground, MD, USA
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8182-7768

Abstract

Imperceptible vibratory noise stimulation has shown to improve stability for both whole body postural control and simple motor control tasks.  Noise stimulation is theorized to elicit a stochastic resonance-like effect within the somatosensory system, but there is disagreement in the literature regarding an optimal stimulation level for motor stability in humans.  To explore vibrotactile stimulation, eighteen (18) participants performed an isometric finger flexion task with visual feedback while receiving noise stimulation scaled to varying percentages of their sub-sensory threshold level.  Performance was quantified as the root-mean-square (RMS) error between the target force and the actual generated force values.  The goals of the study were to determine: 1) whether force stability is significantly better when receiving their custom “principal” stimulation compared to other sub-sensory stimulation levels, and 2) if an individual’s principal stimulation level may be predicted by either their maximal voluntary contraction (MVC) or sub-sensory threshold level.  A main effect of noise stimulation was observed (p < .001) indicating significantly better performance (lower RMS error) during the force stability task when individualized principal noise stimulation was applied.  At the group level, task performance was significantly improved with principal noise stimulation compared to other stimulation levels (p ≤ .019).  At the individual level, however, performance at the principal stimulation level was only significantly different than the distribution of errors for other stimulation levels for two individuals.  Moderate to strong Spearman correlations (rs = .56 and rs = .65, respectively) suggest principal stimulation level increases with MVC and sub-sensory threshold. 

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How to Cite
Haynes, C., Tenan, M., Passaro, A., & Tweedell, A. (2023). Investigating Optimal Noise Level for Imperceptible Vibrotactile Stimulation during a Force Stability Task. Communications in Kinesiology, 1(4). https://doi.org/10.51224/cik.2022.41 (Original work published December 16, 2022)
Issue
Vol. 1 No. 4 (2022)
Section
Sensorimotor Control
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This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Authors retain the copyright of their manuscripts, and all Open Access articles are distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC-BY 4.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided that the original work is properly cited.

Author Biography

Courtney A. Haynes, U.S. Combat Capabilities Development Command, Army Research Laboratory, Aberdeen Proving Ground, MD, USA

Courtney A. Haynes received her Ph.D. in Biomedical Engineering from Virginia Tech in 2013.  She is currently employed as a biomedical engineer with the DEVCOM U.S. Army Research Laboratory (ARL).  Her work with ARL has included the evaluation of exoskeleton and Soldier augmentation systems, physical performance and marksmanship assessment, and basic science efforts to understand the mechanisms of human adaptation to physical systems. 

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