A Musculoskeletal Model of Postural Control at the Ankle

INTRODUCTION Changes in postural stability associated with the aging process may be due to alterations in neural, skeletal and muscular characteristics. The effects of such changes are difficult to study experimentally, as they typically occur over a long time period. Therefore, many have studied postural control using analytical or numerical models, such as the simple inverted pendulum [3]. However, most models do not incorporate specific representation of the individual muscles involved in the balance process. The purpose of this paper is to describe a musculoskeletal model for studying control of sagittal plane postural sway at the ankle [3]. Development of this model will allow the study of how age-related changes in muscular properties will affect postural control.