ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Hum. Neurosci.
Sec. Motor Neuroscience
Frontal plane sloped support surfaces: their effect on body balance and posture organization
Provisionally accepted
Alain Hamaoui*
Siripatra Atsawakaewmongkhon- Universite Paris-Saclay, Gif-sur-Yvette, France
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Sloped surfaces are common in daily life, as ground surfaces are frequently inclined for purposes such as accessibility, transportation, and drainage. This study assessed how support surfaces inclined in the frontal plane might affect body balance and posture. Fifteen subjects underwent a posturographic examination with the support surface sloped at 0°, 7°, and 15°. The tests were associated with goniometric measurements of knees and hips, and surface EMG of the Tibialis Anterior, Soleus, Rectus Femoris, and Biceps Femoris. The main results showed that standing on a lateral sloped surface shifts the CP toward the direction of the slope and increases the CP velocity and mean displacement. Goniometric data revealed that the knees and ankles were flexed on the contralateral side of the slope, with a higher activity of the Rectus Femoris and Tibialis Anterior. From these findings, this study concluded that surfaces inclined in the frontal plane result in poorer body balance and increased fall risk. This might have significant implications in rehabilitation and accessibility.
Keywords: articular angles, body balance, EMG, Lower limbs, Sloped surface
Received: 15 Sep 2025; Accepted: 29 Jan 2026.
Copyright: © 2026 Hamaoui and Atsawakaewmongkhon. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Alain Hamaoui
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