Swart, S. (Sander) (2019) Controlling dynamic balance: relation between cautious gait and slip perturbation predictability. thesis, Human Movement Sciences.
Full text available on request.Abstract
Cautious gait is a proactive locomotor control strategy, utilized to enhance dynamic balance against potential gait disturbances. Little is known about the development and utilization of proactive control in anticipation of, and with experience of slip perturbations. The purpose of the present study was threefold, (i) to assess proactive control in anticipation of a gait perturbations without prior slip experience, (ii) to assess the development and utilization of proactive control prior to slip perturbations, that vary in predictability and (iii) to assess proactive control during a wash-out period, when the perturbation is removed without the participant’s knowledge. Spatiotemporal step parameters and margins of stability (AP, ML) of twenty-seven healthy young adults (21.5 2.7 years old) were measured. The results show that anticipation of a potential gait perturbation resulted in a generic proactive locomotor strategy. This strategy extinguished in the continuing absence of a gait perturbation. During repeated slip exposure, the development of proactive control was characterized by a dynamic process of adjustments, in which experience with unilaterally induced slips shaped the proactive control strategy. To effectively mitigate postural instability imposed by this specific task context, some proactive strategies became more dominant (e.g. asymmetric gait), whereas others were abandoned (e.g. increased m-l MOS). This was not different between experimental groups, indicating that the development of proactive control is not sensitive to the implicit structure in the perturbation sequence. During unannounced removal of the perturbations, proactive strategies were initially retained, but eventually extinguished. Overall this study shows that, anticipatory locomotor behaviour can be adopted without prior experience, but that perturbation experience is needed to shape the proactive strategy and gradually tune it to its properties. Keywords: slip, perturbation, dynamic balance, anticipation, proactive control, predictability, habituation
| Item Type: | Thesis (UNSPECIFIED) |
|---|---|
| Supervisor name: | Otter, dr. A.R. den |
| Faculty: | Medical Sciences |
| Date Deposited: | 24 May 2022 09:55 |
| Last Modified: | 24 May 2022 09:55 |
| URI: | https://umcg.studenttheses.ub.rug.nl/id/eprint/3431 |
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