Noisy galvanic vestibular stimulation improves postural stability under virtual reality perturbation by enhancing vestibular processing and multisensory integration.

The study included only healthy young adults, so results may not generalize to older adults or clinical populations with vestibular or neurological disorders. Virtual reality goggles were worn only during VR trials, not during eyes-open or eyes-closed control conditions, which could introduce mechanical confounding factors. Functional near-infrared spectroscopy cannot measure deep brain structures like the cerebellum or insula, limiting the understanding of full neural mechanisms. Electromyography could not isolate the transversus abdominis from the internal oblique, so trunk stabilization findings reflect composite activity. Multiple statistical tests were performed without correction across all outcome families, increasing the risk of false positives.

The authors declared no competing interests. The study was funded by the Basic and Applied Basic Research Foundation of Guangdong Province, Suzhou Municipal Hospital, National Key Research and Development Program of China, Guangdong-Hong Kong Technology and Innovation Cooperation Funding, and National Natural Science Foundation of China.

Do not assume this improves balance in all conditions. The benefit was specific to resolving visual-vestibular conflict; there was no significant difference between active and sham stimulation during eyes-closed standing, suggesting the mechanism relies on correcting mismatched sensory inputs rather than generally strengthening vestibular function.