We investigated the effect of joint immobilization on the postural sway during quiet standing. We hypothesized that the center of pressure (COP), rambling, and trembling trajectories would be affected by joint immobilization. Ten young adults stood on a force plate during 60 s without and with immobilized joints (only knees constrained, CK; knees and hips, CH; and knees, hips, and trunk, CT), w...

A single-subject, alternating treatments design was conducted to evaluate the effects of inhibitive ankle-foot orthoses on standing balance in a 4.5-year-old boy with moderate spastic quadriplegia who had been wearing an initial pair of inhibitive orthoses for one year. Before introducing the subject to a newly fabricated but similarly designed pair of orthoses, we collected baseline data on th...

Objectives: Undiagnosed balance disorders during childhood can negatively affect children’s functional abilities such as reading and school performance. The Pediatric Clinical Test of Sensory Interaction for Balance (P-CTSIB) reflects how children combine and use different sensory information to react to different conditions in the static balance. This study aimed to examine balance control in ...

BACKGROUND Patients with Parkinson's disease often suffer from reduced mobility due to impaired postural control. Balance exercises form an integral part of rehabilitative therapy but the effectiveness of existing interventions is limited. Recent technological advances allow for providing enhanced visual feedback in the context of computer games, which provide an attractive alternative to conve...

During quiet standing the human "inverted pendulum" sways irregularly. In previous work where subjects balanced a real inverted pendulum, we investigated what contribution the intrinsic mechanical ankle stiffness makes to achieve stability. Using the results of a plausible model, we suggested that intrinsic ankle stiffness is inadequate for providing stability. Here, using a piezo-electric tran...

Introduction. Cancer, after cardiovascular disease, is the second most common cause of death both in Poland anIntroduction. In children with cerebral palsy, gait and balance assessment allows for an objective gait pattern evaluation as well as for therapy planning and assessment. It was hypothesised that asymmetry of the lower limbs load in a standing position causes asymmetry of spatiotemporal...

Sedentarism is considered an independent cardiovascular risk factor. Thus, the present study investigated the effects of employing standing desks in classrooms on cognitive function. The intervention class (IG; n = 19) was supplied with standing desks and balance pads for 11 weeks. The control class (CG; n = 19) received lessons as usual. Standing time was assessed objectively (accelerometers) ...

Objective: To develop and assess the efficacy of a multimodal balance-enhancing exercise program (BEEP) designed to be regularly self-administered by community-dwelling elderly. The program aims to promote sensory reweighting, facilitate motor control, improve gaze stabilization, and stimulate continuous improvement by being constantly challenging. Method: Forty participants aged 60 to 80 years...

In some situations, when an external disturbance occurs, humans can rock stably backward and forward by lifting the toe or the heel to keep the upright balance without stepping. Many control schemes have been proposed for standing balance control under external disturbances without stepping. But, in most of them researchers have only considered a flat foot phase. In this paper a framework is pr...

BACKGROUND Clinical and laboratory methods have been developed to assess the different dimensions of postural control with the aim to increase the clinical relevance of decisions about balance deficit. OBJECTIVES The purpose of this study was to correlate the force platform measurements with two functional tests used to evaluate balance in elderly. METHODS A total of 124 physically independ...