011 The Science of Barefoot Balance Training

Maintaining Balance

How does the body maintain balance? It does so through an intricate system of sensors, proprioceptors, and mechanoreceptors. These include:

1. Labryinthine Sensors: Inner ear, plays a key role in the vertical orientation of the head in dark.
2. Visual Sensors: vertical and horizontal input used to orient the body.
3. Joint Proprioceptors: receptors within the joint capsule responding to stretch, giving joint position feedback.
4. Cutaneous Receptors (plantar and palmar):
   These are mechanoreceptors which detect pressure, vibration, texture and skin stretch, all used to help the body respond to shifts in center of gravity.
   Cutaneous receptors include:
   • Nociceptors - Pain
   • Thermoceptors - Temperature
   • Ruffini's Corpuscles - Skin stretch
   • Merkel's Disks - Texture perception
   • Pacinian Corpuscles - Deep pressure/vibration
   • Meissner's Corpuscles - Light touch
   • Golgi Tendon Organs (GTO) - Muscle tension
   • Muscle Spindles - Muscle length