Interaction between emotion and postural control associated with forward or backward step initiation

This study investigated the impact of emotion-eliciting images on anticipatory postural adjustments (APAs) associated to forward or backward step initiation. Eighteen healthy young women initiated the two kinds of steps in two conditions: (1) if they judged the image as pleasant or unpleasant, respectively (i.e. congruent condition) and (2) if they judged the image as unpleasant or pleasant, respectively (i.e. incongruent condition). Nine participants performed the congruent condition first while the others performed it in second. The results show that the emotional effect (i.e. the difference between the congruent and incongruent conditions) on APAs associated to forward step only differs according to the axis (anterior-posterior, medio-lateral) that is considered, suggesting a specific emotional component of postural stability