AUTHOR=Négyesi János , Petró Bálint , Salman Diane Nabil , Khandoker Ahsan , Katona Péter , Wang Ziheng , Almaazmi Anfal Ibrahim Sanqour Qambar , Hortobágyi Tibor , Váczi Márk , Rácz Kristóf , Pálya Zsófia , Grand László , Kiss Rita M. , Nagatomi Ryoichi 

TITLE=Biosignal processing methods to explore the effects of side-dominance on patterns of bi- and unilateral standing stability in healthy young adults

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Physiology

VOLUME=13

YEAR=2022

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/physiology/articles/10.3389/fphys.2022.965702

DOI=10.3389/fphys.2022.965702

ISSN=1664-042X

ABSTRACT=<p>We examined the effects of side-dominance on the laterality of standing stability using ground reaction force, motion capture (<italic>MoCap</italic>), and <italic>EMG</italic> data in healthy young adults. We recruited participants with strong right (<italic>n</italic> = 15) and left (<italic>n</italic> = 9) hand and leg dominance (side-dominance). They stood on one or two legs on a pair of synchronized force platforms for 50 s with 60 s rest between three randomized stance trials. In addition to 23 <italic>CoP</italic>-related variables, we also computed six <italic>MoCap</italic> variables representing each lower-limb joint motion time series. Moreover, 39 time- and frequency-domain features of <italic>EMG</italic> data from five muscles in three muscle groups were analyzed. Data from the multitude of biosignals converged and revealed concordant patterns: no differences occurred between left- and right-side dominant participants in kinetic, kinematic, or <italic>EMG</italic> outcomes during bipedal stance. Regarding single leg stance, larger knee but lower ankle joint kinematic values appeared in left vs right-sided participants during non-dominant stance. Left-vs right-sided participants also had lower medial gastrocnemius <italic>EMG</italic> activation during non-dominant stance. While right-side dominant participants always produced larger values for kinematic data of ankle joint and medial gastrocnemius <italic>EMG</italic> activation during non-dominant vs dominant unilateral stance, this pattern was the opposite for left-sided participants, showing larger values when standing on their dominant vs non-dominant leg, i.e., participants had a more stable balance when standing on their right leg. Our results suggest that side-dominance affects biomechanical and neuromuscular control strategies during unilateral standing.</p>