... Individuals affected by such a loss often demonstrate different head and body control patterns than normal2. Many patients with a vestibular dysfunction use a cane or use their index fingertip as a contact cue to provide tactile input, which leads to improvement of spatial orientation and postural sway3. A series of studies on vestibular loss patients indicates that somatosensory cues at the fingertip and hand reduce their postural sway. The tongue and fingers enhance balance control due to their precise spatial resolution4. The study performed by Fitzpatrick and McClosely in 1994 demonstrated how the fingertip can capture body displacement and motion at levels below threshold for the vestibular apparatus. Hence the body displacements were resolved by fingertip touch cues. 2 Similarly, a study in 1994 performed by Holden et al. established a powerful stabilizing influence on posture when a surface is touched with the index finger at mechanically non-supportive force ...

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