A research team at the University of British Columbia (UBC) has developed a robot designed to study how the brain maintains balance, an ability that can be affected by aging or disease. The findings, published in Science Robotics and conducted with collaborators from Erasmus Medical Clinic, indicate that the brain handles delays in sensory feedback similarly to how it manages changes in body mechanics.
The robot allows researchers to simulate different physical conditions for participants standing on its platform. It can change sensations such as inertia and viscosity—making the body feel heavier or movement more dampened—and introduce brief delays in response time, mimicking slowed nerve signals seen in conditions like diabetic neuropathy and multiple sclerosis.
"Imagine steering a car when the wheel responds half a second late," said Dr. Blouin, highlighting the challenge faced by those with delayed sensory feedback.
Traditional studies have struggled to manipulate nerve signal speed or body mechanics safely in humans. The UBC robotic system addresses this gap by letting researchers alter these variables precisely. According to Dr. Blouin: "The robot lets us rewrite the rules your body normally plays by. In an instant, you're moving under a completely different set of physical laws-almost like stepping into a different body."
In their experiments, researchers first introduced a delay, causing participants to sway significantly—sometimes beyond what would be safe outside the lab environment. Adjusting mechanical properties like inertia or viscosity produced similar instability, suggesting that spatial and temporal aspects of balance are closely linked in how the brain processes them.
A third experiment found that increasing inertia and viscosity helped compensate for delayed feedback: "We were amazed that adding inertia and viscosity could partly cancel the instability caused by late feedback," said lead author Paul Belzner.
Falls represent a significant health risk for older adults and contribute substantial costs to healthcare systems each year in Canada. There is currently no straightforward method for speeding up slowed nerve signals due to age or illness. "That's what makes our findings so exciting," said Dr. Blouin. "It suggests we can help in another way-by giving the body a small mechanical boost that makes balance easier for the brain."
Potential applications include wearable devices providing resistance during imbalance or robotic trainers aiding patients’ adaptation to slower feedback times; these insights may also benefit engineers designing humanoid robots.
The UBC robot will soon be relocated to UBC's Gateway health building where it will support further research at various university centers focused on fall prevention and healthy aging.
Funding for this project came from both the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada as well as internal UBC sources.
