Newly standing infants increase postural stability when performing a supra-postural task.
Independent stance is one of the most difficult motor milestones to achieve. Newly standing infants exhibit exaggerated body movements and can only stand for a brief amount of time. Given the difficult nature of bipedal stance, these unstable characteristics are slow to improve. However, we demonstrate that infants can increase their stability when engaged in a standing goal-directed task. Infants' balance was measured while standing and while standing and holding a visually attractive toy. When holding the toy, infants stood for a longer period of time, exhibited less body sway, and more mature postural dynamics. These results demonstrate that even with limited standing experience, infants can stabilize posture to facilitate performance of a concurrent task.
Department of Health and Kinesiology, Purdue University, West Lafayette, Indiana, United States of America. ljclaxton@purdue.edu
Laura J
LJ
Claxton
Jeffrey M
JM
Haddad
Katelyn
K
Ponto
Joong Hyun
JH
Ryu
Sean C
SC
Newcomer
D001288:Attention / Q000502:physiology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D008297:Male; D009068:Movement / Q000502:physiology; D010988:Play and Playthings; D004856:Postural Balance / Q000502:physiology*; D011187:Posture / Q000502:physiology*; D013997:Time Factors; D016474:Weight-Bearing / Q000502:physiology