Biomechanics Commons^™

Age Induced Modifications In The Persistency Of Voluntary Sway When Actively Tracking The Complex Motion Of A Visual Target, Haralampos Sotirakis, Nick Stergiou, Dimitrios A. Patikas, Vassilia Hatzitaki

Journal Articles

Movement persistency, reflected in systematic cycle to cycle fluctuations of a rhythmical task such as walking or voluntary sway, is compromised with increasing age, making older adults more susceptible to falls. In the present study, we tested whether it is possible to improve rhythmic voluntary sway persistency in old age by actively tracking the complex (i.e. persistent) motion of a visual target. Twenty healthy young and 20 older adults performed 132 cycles of anterior-posterior sway under two conditions: a) self-paced sway and b) sway while tracking the vertical motion of a complex visual target. The persistency of sway cycle amplitude …

The Unique Demands Of Playing Posture On Youth Violinists And Violists, Liam Carroll

Honors Theses

The high prevalence of performing arts injuries is an acknowledged challenge facing the performing arts medicine community. The injuries seem to affect string players the most among orchestral musicians, specifically violinists and violists. The asymmetrical posture, head and neck displacement, and spinal displacement required by the posture to play violin and viola can lead to discomfort or injury in the performer. Performance related musculoskeletal disorders (PRMDs) can have an adverse impact on the life of a musician, preventing them from performing or making it uncomfortable. While there is a large body of research on PRMDs relating to adult musicians, there …

Swaying To The Complex Motion Of A Visual Target Affects Postural Sway Variability, Haralampos Sotirakis, Dimitrios A. Patikas, Nicholas Stergiou, Vassilia Hatzitaki

Journal Articles

Background

Voluntary shifting body weight in the anteroposterior direction is an important element of daily life activities, such as rising from a chair or initiating a step. In order to accommodate the daily-life challenges of such tasks, voluntary postural sway needs to be flexible and variable.

Research question

In this study we asked how whole-body tracking of a complex visual target motion with the concurrent provision of feedback modulates the variability of voluntary sway.

Methods

Twenty young adults (age: 27.10 ± 9.15years, height: 170.73 ± 9.40 cm, mass: 62.84 ± 11.48 kg) performed 132 cycles of voluntary antero-posterior sway, on …