Low-frequency Oscillations in Postural Sway Reflect Sensory Reweighting but Become Decoupled from Postural Output as Huntington’s Disease Progresses
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Background
Huntington’s disease (HD) causes progressive postural control deficits, but how sensory reweighting mechanisms degrade across disease stages remains poorly understood.
Objective
To determine whether objective markers of postural sway track disease severity and altered sensory reweighting across the HD spectrum.
Methods
Ninety-seven adults (46±14 yrs) were categorized into four groups: 29 with HD, 27 pre-manifest (PM), 28 not at risk (AR-), and 13 age-matched healthy controls (HC). Participants performed three trials of quiet standing with eyes open and eyes closed on a force plate.
Results
Manifest HD individuals exhibited greater AP, ML, and total COP sway displacement compared with the PM, AR-, and HC groups. HD and PM groups demonstrated greater instability with eyes closed. COP wavelet power was concentrated below 1 Hz across all groups. The eyes-open to eyes-closed change in 0-1 Hz power predicted total COP sway in HC (68%), AR- (45%), and PM (46%), but this relation was substantially weaker in HD.
Conclusions
Progressive weakening of oscillatory-sway coupling distinguishes manifest HD from premanifest stages. PM individuals demonstrate early sensory reweighting deficits that manifest only when vision is removed, while HD individuals show decoupled oscillatory activity that fails to support stable postural regulation. This progressive decoupling may serve as a candidate marker of disease conversion prior to overt motor diagnosis.
