Engineering Commons^™

Understanding Standing, Christopher Storey

Doctoral Dissertations

Research objectives. Psychophysical acceleration threshold is a tool for detecting deficits in dynamic postural control. Our lab has shown differences in the acceleration threshold among young adults, elderly adults, and elderly adults with diabetes. Electromyography, Semmes-Weinstein monofilaments, and hearing tests investigate the underlying physiological mechanisms for the detriments in postural control. Due to peri-sway perturbations, the motion of a person's sway affects the signal to noise ratio for perturbed stance. Since increases in sway range accompany postural instabilities, sway entrainment will allow us to investigate changes in acceleration threshold at different points in sway. The center of pressure, observed …