Effect of haptic supplementation on postural control of younger and older adults in an unstable sitting task.
Standing postural control is known to be altered during aging, but age-related changes in sitting postural control have scarcely been explored. The present experiment studied the roles of visual and haptic information in a sitting task in both young and older adults. Fifteen young and fifteen older adults participated in this study. Six experimental conditions were performed with eyes open and eyes closed: quiet sitting, rocker-board sitting, and 4 conditions of haptic supplementation, provided by a hand-held pen, during rocker-board sitting. Classical variables were extracted from the center of pressure (COP) and pen trajectories, and the stabilogram diffusion analysis was performed on the COP data. Three-way ANOVAs (Group×Vision×Condition) were carried out. Postural instability was strongly attenuated by haptic supplementation in both age groups. Furthermore, instability due to visual deprivation was compensated by haptic supplementation. Long- and short-term diffusion coefficients were smaller in conditions of haptic supplementation. The present study confirmed the effect of haptic supplementation on both open-loop and closed-loop mechanisms of postural control and extended it to unstable sitting in young and older adults despite the complex biomechanical systems involved in sitting postural tasks.
Aix-Marseille Université, CNRS, ISM, UMR 7287, 13288 Marseille Cedex 09, France; IfADo, Leibniz Research Centre for Working Environment and Human Factors, Dortmund, Germany. Electronic address: marie.albertsen@hmn.aphp.fr.
Inke Marie
IM
Albertsen
Aix-Marseille Université, CNRS, ISM, UMR 7287, 13288 Marseille Cedex 09, France.
Jean Jacques
JJ
Temprado
Aix-Marseille Université, CNRS, ISM, UMR 7287, 13288 Marseille Cedex 09, France.
Eric
E
Berton
IfADo, Leibniz Research Centre for Working Environment and Human Factors, Dortmund, Germany.
Herbert
H
Heuer
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000375:Aging / Q000502:physiology*; D001696:Biomechanical Phenomena; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D018482:Muscle, Skeletal / Q000502:physiology; D004856:Postural Balance; D011187:Posture / Q000502:physiology*; D011312:Pressure; D055815:Young Adult
Aging; Haptic supplementation; Postural control; Unstable sitting