Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®

Life Sciences Commons

Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®

Articles 1 - 2 of 2

Full-Text Articles in Life Sciences

Human Whole-Body Reaching In Normal Gravity And Microgravity Reveals A Strong Temporal Coordination Between Postural And Focal Task Components, Jerome Patron, Paul Stapley, Thierry Pozzo Jan 2013

Human Whole-Body Reaching In Normal Gravity And Microgravity Reveals A Strong Temporal Coordination Between Postural And Focal Task Components, Jerome Patron, Paul Stapley, Thierry Pozzo

Dr Paul J Stapley

Previous experiments by our group in normal gravity (1 G) have revealed spatial relationships between postural and focal components of whole-body reaching and pointing movements. We suggested that these relationships could be explained partly through the use of gravity to displace the CoM and attain the object or target position. In this study we compared human whole-body reaching in 1 G and microgravity (0 G) in order to more fully investigate how gravity contributes to strategies adopted for task execution and to determine possible invariant temporal relationships between multiple segments. Whole-body reaching movements made from the standing position in two …


Neck Muscle Fatigue And Postural Control In Patients With Whiplash Injury, Paul Stapley, Maria Beretta, Elena Toffola, Marco Schieppati Jan 2013

Neck Muscle Fatigue And Postural Control In Patients With Whiplash Injury, Paul Stapley, Maria Beretta, Elena Toffola, Marco Schieppati

Dr Paul J Stapley

Objectives: To examine if patients with whiplash injury show identifiable increases in neck muscle fatigability and associated increase in postural body sway after contractions of dorsal neck muscles, and if physiotherapy treatment reduces these effects. Methods: Sway was measured during stance in 13 patients before and after 5 min of isometric dorsal neck muscle contractions and after recovery, pre- and post-physiotherapy, using a force platform. Amplitude and median frequency of neck muscle EMG were calculated during the contracting period. After each stance trial, patients gave a subjective score of sway. Results: Pre-treatment, seven patients showed EMG signs of fatigue (increases …