Effect of Sensory-Motor Latencies and Active Muscular Stiffness on Stability for an Ankle-Hip Model of Balance on a Balance Board

To achieve human upright posture (UP) and avoid falls, the central nervous system processes visual, vestibular, and proprioceptive information to activate the appropriate muscles to accelerate or decelerate the body ’s center of mass. In this process, sensory-motor (SM) latencies and muscular deficits, even in healthy older adults, may cause falls. This condition is worse for people with chronic neuromuscular deficits (stroke survivors, patients with multiple sclerosis or Parkinson’s disease). One therapeut ic approach is to recover or improve quiet UP by utilizing a balance board (BB) (a rotating surface with a tunable stiffness and time delay), where a patient attempts to maintain UP while task difficulty is manipulated.
Source: Journal of Biomechanics - Category: Biomedical Science Authors: Source Type: research