LAUSR

The present study aimed to determine if a vestibular perceptual learning intervention could improve roll tilt self-motion perception and balance performance. Two intervention groups (N=10 each) performed 1300 trials of roll tilt at either 0.5 Hz (2 sec per motion) or 0.2 Hz (5 sec per motion) distributed over 5 days; each intervention group was provided feedback (correct/incorrect) after each trial. Roll tilt perceptual thresholds, measured using 0.2, 0.5 and 1 Hz stimuli, as well as quiet stance postural sway, were measured on day one and day six of the study. The control group (N=10) who performed no perceptual training, showed stable 0.2 Hz (+1.48%, p>0.99), 0.5 Hz (-4.0%, p>0.99), and 1 Hz (-17.48%, p=0.20) roll tilt thresholds. The 0.2 Hz training group demonstrated significant improvements in both 0.2 Hz (-23.77%, p=0.003) and 0.5 Hz (-22.2%, p=0.03) thresholds. The 0.5 Hz training group showed a significant improvement in 0.2 Hz thresholds (-19.13%, p=0.029), but not 0.5 Hz thresholds (-17.68%, p=0.052). Neither training group improved significantly at the untrained 1 Hz frequency (p>0.05). In addition to improvements in perceptual precision, the 0.5 Hz training group showed a decrease in sway when measured during "eyes open, on foam" (dz = 0.57, p = 0.032) and "eyes closed, on foam" (dz = 2.05, p < 0.001) quiet stance balance tasks. These initial data suggest that roll tilt perception can be improved with less than 5 hours of training and that vestibular perceptual training may contribute to a reduction in subclinical postural instability.