Can vision compensate for a lower limbs muscular fatigue for controlling posture in humans?

The purpose of the present experiment was to investigate the effect of vision on postural control following a lower limbs muscular fatigue. Ten adult males were asked to maintain a single leg upright posture as immobile as possible in two conditions of no-fatigue and fatigue of the calf muscles. This muscles fatigue was achieved by standing on the toes until exhaustion. Within a trial, vision was suppressed or reinserted by eyes closure or opening. Center of foot pressure displacements were recorded using a force platform. Results showed that the availability of vision allowed the subjects to immediately cope with the destabilizing effect induced by muscular fatigue. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.