The effect of light touch on the simple reaction time task and level of COP signal regularity during quiet standing.

The literature consistently shows that a light touch can help stabilize posture. However, there is still no agreement on how paying attention to additional tactile information affects the control of upright posture. To better understand the underlying mechanisms, we conducted a study where we tested conditions of sensory deprivation (closing the eyes), additional feedback (light touch), and a dual task paradigm (measuring simple reaction time to an unpredictable auditory stimulus). Twenty-five healthy students perform eight postural tasks, randomly assigned, four with the simple reaction task (RT) and four without (NoRT). We measured center of pressure displacements on a force plate in two visual conditions: eyes open (EO) and eyes closed (EC), and two sensory conditions: with light touch (LT) and without light touch (NoLT). Before each measurement, participants were instructed to consider the postural task as the primary task.<br>