Martinelli Alessandra Rezende, Coelho Daniel Boari, Teixeira Luis Augusto
Human Motor Systems Laboratory, School of Physical Education and Sport, University of São Paulo, SP, Brazil.
Human Motor Systems Laboratory, School of Physical Education and Sport, University of São Paulo, SP, Brazil; Biomedical Engineering, Federal University of ABC, São Bernardo do Campo, SP, Brazil.
Hum Mov Sci. 2018 Apr;58:268-278. doi: 10.1016/j.humov.2018.03.001. Epub 2018 Mar 12.
Cerebral damage provoked by stroke may lead to deficits of quiet balance control and of the recovery of body equilibrium following an unanticipated postural perturbation. In this investigation we aimed to evaluate the effect of light touch (LT) of an earth-fixed surface on balance stability in individuals with post-stroke hemiparesis, taking performance of age-matched healthy participants as reference. Evaluations were made in conditions of full and no visual information. Analysis of quiet balance showed that LT induced higher balance stability, with reduced amplitude and velocity of postural sway. Evaluation of the effect of LT on automatic postural responses was made in the task of recovering body equilibrium following a mechanical perturbation of balance leading to fast forward body sway. Results showed that LT led to reduced amplitude of center of mass displacement following the perturbation, in addition to reduced amplitude and velocity of center of pressure under the feet, and lower activation of the lower legs muscles. Those effects of LT were observed in both the post-stroke and control groups, and did not interact with vision availability. Our results indicated then that individuals who suffered a cerebral stroke can stabilize perturbed and non-perturbed postural responses by lightly touching a stable surface to a similar extent of healthy older individuals.
中风引发的脑损伤可能导致安静平衡控制能力的缺陷，以及在意外姿势扰动后身体平衡恢复能力的缺陷。在这项研究中，我们旨在以年龄匹配的健康参与者的表现为参照，评估轻触固定于地面的表面对中风后偏瘫个体平衡稳定性的影响。评估在有完整视觉信息和无视觉信息的条件下进行。安静平衡分析表明，轻触可提高平衡稳定性，同时降低姿势摆动的幅度和速度。在因平衡机械扰动导致身体快速向前摆动后恢复身体平衡的任务中，对轻触对自动姿势反应的影响进行了评估。结果表明，轻触除了可降低足部下方压力中心的幅度和速度以及小腿肌肉的激活程度外，还可降低扰动后质心位移的幅度。在中风组和对照组中均观察到了轻触的这些效果，且这些效果与视觉信息的可用性无关。我们的结果表明，中风患者通过轻触稳定表面，在一定程度上能够像健康老年人一样稳定受扰动和未受扰动的姿势反应。
