How do central vestibular disorders affect performance on dynamic posturography?

• A. They improve balance in all conditions
• B. They only affect hearing thresholds
• C. They do not affect dynamic posturography results
• D. They disrupt sensory integration, leading to instability and poor performance on sensory organization tests during dynamic sway tasks

Answer: (D)

Central vestibular disorders disrupt the brain’s ability to integrate visual input, proprioception, and vestibular signals to maintain balance. Dynamic posturography tests balance by changing or conflicting these sensory cues and measuring how well someone can use each input and reweight them when others are unreliable. When central processing is impaired, the system can’t flexibly combine and suppress conflicting information, so sway increases and performance on the sensory organization portion of the test deteriorates during dynamic balance tasks. In short, these disorders impair sensory integration, leading to instability under dynamic sway conditions. Hearing thresholds aren’t the primary issue, and the test results reflect integration problems rather than a simple peripheral failure.