Noise and poise: Enhancement of postural complexity in the elderly with a stochastic-resonance-based therapy

M. Costa, A. A. Priplata, L. A. Lipsitz, Z. Wu, N. E. Huang, A. L. Goldberger, C. K. Peng

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

187 Scopus citations

Abstract

Pathologic states are associated with a loss of dynamical complexity. Therefore, therapeutic interventions that increase physiologic complexity may enhance health status. Using multiscale entropy analysis, we show that the postural sway dynamics of healthy young and healthy elderly subjects are more complex than that of elderly subjects with a history of falls. Application of subsensory noise to the feet has been demonstrated to improve postural stability in the elderly. We next show that this therapy significantly increases the multiscale complexity of sway fluctuations in healthy elderly subjects. Quantification of changes in dynamical complexity of biologic variability may be the basis of a new approach to assessing risk and to predicting the efficacy of clinical interventions, including noise-based therapies.

Original languageEnglish
Article number68008
JournalEPL
Volume77
Issue number6
DOIs
StatePublished - 1 Mar 2007

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