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The purpose of the study was to determine whether the central nervous system (CNS) requires the sensory feedback generated by balance perturbations in order to trigger postural responses (PRs). In Experiment 1, twenty-one participants experienced toes-up support-surface tilts in two blocks. Control blocks involved unexpected balance perturbations whereas an auditory tone cued the onset of balance perturbations in Conditioning blocks. A single Cue-Only trial followed each block (Cue-Only_Control and Cue-Only_Conditioning trials) in the absence of balance perturbations. Cue-Only_Conditioning trials were used to determine whether postural perturbations were required in order to trigger PRs. Counter-balancing the order of Control and Conditioning blocks allowed Cue-Only_Control trials to examine both the audio–spinal/acoustic startle effects of the auditory cue and the carryover effects of the initial conditioning …