title: Visual feedback training improves postural adjustments associated with moving obstacle avoidance in elderly women.
abstract: The study examined the impact of visually guided weight shifting (WS) practice on the postural adjustments evoked by elderly women when avoiding collision with a moving obstacle while standing. Fifty-six healthy elderly women (70.9+/-5.7 years, 87.5+/-9.6 kg) were randomly assigned into one of three groups: a group that completed 12 sessions (25 min, 3s/week) of WS practice in the Anterior/Posterior direction (A/P group, n=20), a group that performed the same practice in the medio/lateral direction (M/L group, n=20) and a control group (n=16). Pre- and post-training, participants were tested in a moving obstacle avoidance task. As a result of practice, postural response onset shifted closer to the time of collision with the obstacle. Side-to-side WS resulted in a reduction of the M/L sway amplitude and an increase of the trunk's velocity during avoidance. It is concluded that visually guided WS practice enhances elderly's ability for on-line visuo-motor processing when avoiding collision eliminating reliance on anticipatory scaling. Specifying the direction of WS seems to be critical for optimizing the transfer of training adaptations.
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Motor Control and Learning, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Greece. vaso1@phed.auth.gr
authors.forename: V
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Hatzitaki
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Voudouris
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Nikodelis
authors.forename: I G
authors.initials: IG
authors.lastname: Amiridis
mesh_terms: D000058:Accidental Falls / Q000517:prevention & control; D000222:Adaptation, Physiological / Q000502:physiology; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000375:Aging / Q000502:physiology; D005246:Feedback; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D009048:Motor Skills; D004856:Postural Balance / Q000502:physiology*; D011597:Psychomotor Performance / Q000502:physiology; D013647:Task Performance and Analysis; D014163:Transfer, Psychology; D014796:Visual Perception / Q000502:physiology*