title: Effects of long-term blindness on preparatory emg modulation in humans performing landing movements.
abstract: To investigate the long-term effect of blindness on the task of leaping down to a lower landing surface, five blind individuals were compared with 10 sighted individuals who performed landing movements with and without sight. Participants performed six consecutive drop-landings from four different heights, during which the prelanding modulation of EMG timing and amplitude in four lower-limb muscles were recorded. Analysis showed that blind individuals showed specific prelanding EMG modulation, suggesting that long-term dependence on somesthetic and vestibular cues leads to different preparatory measures for vertical falls.
authors.affiliation: Neuroscience Program and Biomedical, Engineering Laboratory, EPUSP, University of São Paulo, Brazil. fhmagalhaes@leb.usp.br
authors.forename: Fernando Henrique
authors.initials: FH
authors.lastname: Magalhães
authors.forename: Daniel Gustavo
authors.initials: DG
authors.lastname: Goroso
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001766:Blindness / Q000503:physiopathology* / Q000523:psychology*; D003867:Depth Perception / Q000502:physiology*; D004576:Electromyography; D006801:Humans; D007699:Kinesthesis / Q000502:physiology*; D008297:Male; D018482:Muscle, Skeletal / Q000294:innervation; D009473:Neuronal Plasticity / Q000502:physiology; D009949:Orientation / Q000502:physiology*; D011214:Practice, Psychological; D011597:Psychomotor Performance / Q000502:physiology*; D013028:Space Perception / Q000502:physiology*; D055815:Young Adult