Supratentorial lesion volumes are associated with quantitative balance measures in multiple sclerosis (MS), in accord with the concept that balance relies upon highly convergent and multimodal neural pathways involving the skin, muscles, joints, eyes, and vestibular system, according to a recent study. Researchers compared motor control test (MCT) and dynamic sensory organization test (SOT) scores of 58 MS patients to those of 72 healthy controls; correlations were determined between the MS scores of 49 patients and lesion volumes within 26 brain regions. They found:

• Depending upon platform excursion direction and magnitude, MCT latencies, which were longer in MS patients than controls, were correlated with lesion volumes in the cortex, medial frontal lobes, temporal lobes, and parietal opercula (r’s ranging from 0.20 to 0.39).
• SOT test scores were also impacted by MS and correlated with lesions in these same brain regions as well as within the superior frontal lobe (r’s ranging from − 0.28 to − 0.40).
• The strongest and most consistent correlations occurred for the most challenging tasks in which incongruent visual and proprioceptive feedback were given.