Postural Control in the Rabbit Maintaining Balance on the Tilting Platform

2003 ◽  
Vol 90 (6) ◽  
pp. 3783-3793 ◽  
Author(s):  
I. N. Beloozerova ◽  
P. V. Zelenin ◽  
L. B. Popova ◽  
G. N. Orlovsky ◽  
S. Grillner ◽  
...  

A deviation from the dorsal-side-up body posture in quadrupeds activates the mechanisms for postural corrections. Operation of these mechanisms was studied in the rabbit maintaining balance on a platform periodically tilted in the frontal plane. First, we characterized the kinematics and electromyographic (EMG) patterns of postural responses to tilts. It was found that a reaction to tilt includes an extension of the limbs on the side moving down and flexion on the opposite side. These limb movements are primarily due to a modulation of the activity of extensor muscles. Second, it was found that rabbits can effectively maintain the dorsal-side-up body posture when complex postural stimuli are applied, i.e., asynchronous tilts of the platforms supporting the anterior and posterior parts of the body. These data suggest that the nervous mechanisms controlling positions of these parts of the body can operate independently of each other. Third, we found that normally the somatosensory input plays a predominant role for the generation of postural responses. However, when the postural response appears insufficient to maintain balance, the vestibular input contributes considerably to activation of postural mechanisms. We also found that an asymmetry in the tonic vestibular input, caused by galvanic stimulation of the labyrinths, can affect the stabilized body orientation while the magnitude of postural responses to tilts remains unchanged. Fourth, we found that the mechanisms for postural corrections respond only to tilts that exceed a certain (threshold) value.

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mirosław Mrozkowiak ◽  
Marta Stępień-Słodkowska

Abstract BackgroundThe lifestyle of children has a significant impact on the future health of the whole society. Therefore, health education, prevention and monitoring of health determinants is important at every stage of ontogenesis. This requires a thorough knowledge of the schoolchild's environment, perceived as a wide set of stressors, including not only genetic but also epigenetic factors. One of them is the issue of the correct and abnormal body posture at school and on the way there.MethodBody posture tests were carried out in a group of 65 students aged 7 years, using the projection moiré method in 4 positions: 1-habitual posture, 2-posture after 10-minute of asymmetric axial load, 3-a posture after one minute of the load removal, 4- a posture after two minutes of the load removal. Physical fitness was measured with the Sekita test. ResultsThe significance of differences between the 1st and 2nd measurements was analyzed to determine the impact of the backpack load and the correlation with physical fitness, and to study its influence on the value of the differences in posture features. ConclusionsCarrying school supplies on the back induces significant changes in the value of the features describing the body posture in the frontal plane. It should be assumed that the greater the weight of the container and, carrying time and intensity of physical effort is the greater the changes will be. Relatedly, it is not recommended to carry school supplies weighing more than 4 kg by first-grade students.Physical fitness has a various and sex-dependent influence on the value of changes in body posture features because of carrying school supplies. Among boys it significantly affects the asymmetry of the torso bend, shoulder height, the waist triangles height and width, whereas among girls it affects the asymmetry of the shoulders and the distance of the angles of the lower shoulder blades from the line of the spinous processes of the spine. Among boys the changes in the value of posture features are mostly influenced by endurance and speed, but strength, power and agility are of lower influence, whereas among girls only agility matters.


2018 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-6
Author(s):  
Aganieszka Jankowicz-Szymańska ◽  
Marta A. Bibro ◽  
Katarzyna Wódka ◽  
Eliza Smoła

Introduction and aim of the study: The body posture, which is one of the determinants of health and functional efficiency, changes depending on gender, age and psychophysical condition. Defining a pattern of correct posture is extremely difficult as it is a highly individualised feature. The aim of this paper was to compare the body posture of women in three periods of ontogenesis: girls in puberty, young adult women and women in the geriatric age. Material and methods: 150 women were examined: 50 12-year-old pupils, 50 20-22-year-old students and 50 women aged 60-84. Their height and weight were measured, BMI calculated and the status of body weight determined as normal, overweight or obese. The Zebris Pointer ultrasound system analyzed the position of the spine in the sagittal and frontal plane, the symmetry of the shoulders and pelvis in the frontal plane, and the balance of the torso in the sagittal and frontal plane. The results were developed with the Statistica programme. Basic descriptive statistics, multiplicity tables, Shapiro-Wilk test (study of normality of distribution) and Kruskal-Wallis test (inter-group comparison) were used. Differences between groups were assumed to be significant when p<0.05. Results: Age significantly differentiated the BMI index of the surveyed. Overweight and obesity was more prevalent in the oldest age group. The size of thoracic kyphosis expressed in degrees was similar in all the surveyed, although hypokyphosis was observed more frequently in the female pupils and hyperkyphosis in the female students. Lumbar lordosis was significantly higher in the students when compared to the other groups. Hypolordosis was most common in the seniors. The students and seniors also differed in terms of the balance of the torso in the sagittal plane. Excessive backward inclination was diagnosed in 42% of the students (total backward shift of the centre of gravity of the human body), which was twice as rare in the female students and four times as rare in the seniors. Asymmetric position of the right and left shoulder and hip girdles was common in every group of the women surveyed. Side bendings of the spine were most often observed in the female pupils, and least frequently in the seniors. Left-sided bendings were more frequent than right-sided ones. Conclusions: The age of women affects the position of the torso more in the sagittal plane than in the frontal one. The size of lumbar lordosis is an element of the body posture most significantly differentiating women between 12 and 84 years of age. Hyperlordosis is more characteristic of young adult women, whereas hypolordosis of seniors. Hyperkyphosis is most common in female students while hypokyphosis in adolescent girls.


2019 ◽  
Vol 4 (3) ◽  
pp. 1-6
Author(s):  
Dżesika Aksamit ◽  
Tomasz Sidor ◽  
Adrian Gądek ◽  
Agnieszka Jankowicz-Szymańska

Introduction: Postural abnormalities are common in every age group. They often involve discomfort or pain. Unfortunately, specialist posture correcting body postures are almost exclusively for pre-school and school children. There is a widespread belief in the beneficial effects of swimming on the body posture. Some even think that swimming can replace corrective exercises. The aim of the study was to evaluate the changes in the quality of body posture and body balance under the influence of 60-minute intensive swimming training in people aged 20-22 years, whose level of swimming skills was determined as average. Material and methods: The study was conducted on a group of 9 people, students of the State Higher Vocational School in Tarnów. Ultrasonic device Zebris Pointer was used for three-dimensional assessment of body posture. The position of the shoulder and iliac girdle, the shape of the spine, the inclination of the sacrum bone and the inclination of the body in the sagittal and frontal plane were analyzed. The test was repeated before and after the one-hour lecture and before and after one-hour, intensive classes at the swimming pool. The results were developed in the Statistika v10 program. Descriptive statistics, non-parametric Friedman test and Kruskal posthoc test were used. The significance level α = 0.05 was assumed. Results: There was a statistically significant increase in pelvic rotation under the influence of swimming training. There was also a slight deterioration of the spine position in the frontal plane. Exercises improving swimming in the classic style did not affect the depth of thoracic kyphosis and lumbar lordosis. After 60 minutes spent in a relaxed sitting position, deepening thoracic kyphosis was observed. However, this change was not statistically significant. Conclusions: It is not recommended to treat swimming as a substitute for corrective gymnastics. Intensive swimming training can exacerbate existing body posture errors in people who are just improving their swimming technique.


2006 ◽  
Vol 95 (6) ◽  
pp. 3783-3797 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paul J. Stapley ◽  
Lena H. Ting ◽  
Chen Kuifu ◽  
Dirk G. Everaert ◽  
Jane M. Macpherson

The purpose of this study was to determine the source of postural instability in labyrinthectomized cats during lateral head turns. Cats were trained to maintain the head in a forward orientation and then perform a rapid, large-amplitude head turn to left or right in yaw, while standing freely on a force platform. Head turns were biomechanically complex with the primary movement in the yaw plane accompanied by an ipsilateral ear-down roll and nose-down pitch. Cats used a strategy of pushing off by activating extensors of the contralateral forelimb while using all four limbs to produce a rotational moment of force about the vertical axis. After bilateral labyrinthectomy, the initial components of the head turn and accompanying postural responses were hypermetric, but otherwise similar to those produced before the lesion. However, near the time of peak yaw velocity, the lesioned cats produced an unexpected burst in extensors of the contralateral limbs that thrust the body to the ipsilateral side, leading to falls. This postural error was in the frontal (roll) plane, even though the primary movement was a rotation in the horizontal (yaw) plane. The response error decreased in amplitude with compensation but did not disappear. We conclude that lack of vestibular input results in active destabilization of balance during voluntary head movement. We postulate that the postural imbalance arises from the misperception that the trunk was rolling contralaterally, based on signals from neck proprioceptors in the absence of vestibular inputs.


2011 ◽  
Vol 106 (1) ◽  
pp. 437-448 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jeffrey T. Bingham ◽  
Julia T. Choi ◽  
Lena H. Ting

Postural stability depends on interactions between the musculoskeletal system and neural control mechanisms. We present a frontal plane model stabilized by delayed feedback to analyze the effects of altered stance width on postural responses to perturbations. We hypothesized that changing stance width alters the mechanical dynamics of the body and limits the range of delayed feedback gains that produce stable postural behaviors. Surprisingly, mechanical stability was found to decrease as stance width increased due to decreased effective inertia. Furthermore, due to sensorimotor delays and increased leverage of hip joint torque on center-of-mass motion, the magnitudes of the stabilizing delayed feedback gains decreased as stance width increased. Moreover, the ranges of the stable feedback gains were nonoverlapping across different stance widths such that using a single neural feedback control strategy at both narrow and wide stances could lead to instability. The set of stable feedback gains was further reduced by constraints on foot lift-off and perturbation magnitude. Simulations were fit to experimentally measured kinematics, and the identified feedback gains corroborated model predictions. In addition, analytical gain margin of the linearized system was found to predict step transitions without the need for simulation. In conclusion, this model offers a method to dissociate the complex interactions between postural configuration, delayed sensorimotor feedback, and nonlinear foot lift-off constraints. The model demonstrates that stability at wide stances can only be achieved if delayed neural feedback gains decrease. This model may be useful in explaining both expected and paradoxical changes in stance width in healthy and neurologically impaired individuals.


Author(s):  
Cristian Fernando Shiraishi ◽  
Afonso Shiguemi Inoue Salgado ◽  
Ivo Ilvan Kerppers ◽  
Meiriélly Furmann ◽  
Thais Barbosa De Oliveira ◽  
...  

Introduction: The concept of body posture involves balance, neuromuscular coordination and adaptation. Automatic postural responses are adjusted to meet the needs of interaction between systems of postural organization and the environment. Postural control is to maintain body position seeking stability and orientation in space, and the maintenance of posture and balance is directly related to three main systems: visual, vestibular and proprioceptive, whose junction ensures body balance. Other factors may be related to this control, such as the use of prostheses, among them the dentures that provide the balance of the mouth and jaws, through neuromuscular balance, helping to balance the body as a whole. Stabilometry assesses postural balance through the quantification of postural sway in the orthostatic position on a force platform. Objective: To evaluate the influence of the use of dental prostheses in maintaining balance and posture through baropodometry. Method: The study included 10 women with an average age of 65 years old, all using dental prosthesis, which remained on the platform for 30 seconds, with the prosthesis, repeating the procedure without the use of the prosthesis. Results: As the postural balance is given by the sum of the balance of all body structures, where all must be wholesome, and may include dental arch, in this case replaced by dental prosthesis, there was a direct contribution of using it over body balance as a whole, since there was a decrease in the number of oscillations of the body centroid and radial displacement, among individuals who use dental prosthesis. Conclusion: The present study demonstrated that there is a direct influence of the use of dental prostheses on posture and body balance.


2005 ◽  
Vol 93 (4) ◽  
pp. 1831-1844 ◽  
Author(s):  
I. N. Beloozerova ◽  
M. G. Sirota ◽  
G. N. Orlovsky ◽  
T. G. Deliagina

The dorsal side-up body orientation in quadrupeds is maintained by a postural control system. We investigated participation of the motor cortex in this system by recording activity of pyramidal tract neurons (PTNs) from limb representations of the motor cortex during postural corrections. The cat was standing on the platform periodically tilting in the frontal plane, and maintained equilibrium at different body configurations: with the head directed forward (symmetrically alternating loading of the left and right fore limbs), or with the head voluntary turned to the right or to the left (asymmetrical loading). We found that postural corrective responses to tilts included an increase of the contact forces and activity of limb extensors on the side moving down, and their decrease on the opposite side. The activity of PTNs was strongly modulated in relation to the tilt cycle. Phases of activity of individual PTNs were distributed over the cycle. Thus the cortical output mediated by PTNs appeared closely related to a highly automatic motor activity, the maintenance of the body posture. An asymmetrical loading of limbs, caused by head turns, resulted in the corresponding changes of motor responses to tilts. These voluntary postural modifications were also well reflected in the PTNs' activity. The activity of a part of PTNs correlated well with contact forces, in some others with the limb muscle activity; in still others no correlation with these variables was observed. This heterogeneity of the PTNs population suggests a different functional role of individual PTNs.


2013 ◽  
Vol 110 (11) ◽  
pp. 2617-2626 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hayley Boulton ◽  
Suvobrata Mitra

Imagined movements are thought to simulate physical ones, with similar behavioral constraints and neurophysiological activation patterns and with an inhibition mechanism that suppresses movement execution. When upper body movements such as reaching with the arm are made from an upright stance, lower body and trunk muscles are also activated to maintain body posture. It is not clear to what extent parameters of imagined manual movements are sensitive to the postural adjustments their execution would necessitate, nor whether such postural responses are as effectively inhibited as the imagined movements themselves. We asked healthy young participants to imagine reaching movements of the arm while in upright stance, and we measured their self-reported movement times and postural sway during imagined movements. We manipulated mediolateral stance stability and the direction of arm movement (mediolateral or anteroposterior). Imagined arm movements were reportedly slower when subjects were standing in a mediolaterally less stable stance, and the body swayed more when arm movements were imagined in the direction of postural vulnerability. The results suggest that the postural state of the whole body, not just the involved limbs, informs trajectory planning during motor imagery and that measurable adjustments to body posture accompany imagined manual actions. It has been suggested that movement is suppressed during motor imagery by a premotor inhibitory mechanism operating at brain stem or spinal level. Any such inhibition must be incomplete because, for example, it does not eliminate autonomic arousal. Our results suggest that it also does not effectively suppress postural adjustments planned in support of imagined movements.


Children ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 8 (4) ◽  
pp. 288
Author(s):  
Wojciech Rusek ◽  
Joanna Baran ◽  
Justyna Leszczak ◽  
Marzena Adamczyk ◽  
Rafał Baran ◽  
...  

The main goal of our study was to determine how the age of children, puberty and anthropometric parameters affect the formation of body composition and faulty body posture development in children. The secondary goal was to determine in which body segments abnormalities most often occur and how gender differentiates the occurrence of adverse changes in children’s body posture and body composition during puberty. The study group consisted of 464 schoolchildren aged from 6–16. Body posture was assessed with the Zebris system. The composition of the body mass was tested with Tanita MC 780 MA body mass analyzer and the body height was measured using a portable stadiometer PORTSTAND 210. The participants were further divided due to the age of puberty. Tanner division was adopted. The cut-off age for girls is ≥10 years and for boys it is ≥12 years. The analyses applied descriptive statistics, the Pearson correlation, stepwise regression analysis and the t-test. The accepted level of significance was p < 0.05. The pelvic obliquity was lower in older children (beta = −0.15). We also see that age played a significant role in the difference in the height of the right pelvis (beta = −0.28), and the difference in the height of the right shoulder (beta = 0.23). Regression analysis showed that the content of adipose tissue (FAT%) increased with body mass index (BMI) and decreased with increasing weight, age, and height. Moreover, the FAT% was lower in boys than in girls (beta negative equal to −0.39). It turned out that older children (puberty), had greater asymmetry in the right shoulder blade (p < 0.001) and right shoulder (p = 0.003). On the other hand, younger children (who were still before puberty) had greater anomalies in the left trunk inclination (p = 0.048) as well as in the pelvic obliquity (p = 0.008). Girls in puberty were characterized by greater asymmetry on the right side, including the shoulders (p = 0.001), the scapula (p = 0.001) and the pelvis (p < 0.001). In boys, the problem related only to the asymmetry of the shoulder blades (p < 0.001). Girls were characterized by a greater increase in adipose tissue and boys by muscle tissue. Significant differences also appeared in the body posture of the examined children. Greater asymmetry within scapulas and shoulders were seen in children during puberty. Therefore, a growing child should be closely monitored to protect them from the adverse consequences of poor posture or excessive accumulation of adipose tissue in the body.


2016 ◽  
Vol 2016 ◽  
pp. 1-10 ◽  
Author(s):  
Justyna Wyszyńska ◽  
Justyna Podgórska-Bednarz ◽  
Justyna Drzał-Grabiec ◽  
Maciej Rachwał ◽  
Joanna Baran ◽  
...  

Introduction. Excessive body mass in turn may contribute to the development of many health disorders including disorders of musculoskeletal system, which still develops intensively at that time.Aim. The aim of this study was to assess the relationship between children’s body mass composition and body posture. The relationship between physical activity level of children and the parameters characterizing their posture was also evaluated.Material and Methods. 120 school age children between 11 and 13 years were enrolled in the study, including 61 girls and 59 boys. Each study participant had the posture evaluated with the photogrammetric method using the projection moiré phenomenon. Moreover, body mass composition and the level of physical activity were evaluated.Results. Children with the lowest content of muscle tissue showed the highest difference in the height of the inferior angles of the scapulas in the coronal plane. Children with excessive body fat had less slope of the thoracic-lumbar spine, greater difference in the depth of the inferior angles of the scapula, and greater angle of the shoulder line. The individuals with higher level of physical activity have a smaller angle of body inclination.Conclusion. The content of muscle tissue, adipose tissue, and physical activity level determines the variability of the parameter characterizing the body posture.


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