Biomechanics and Motor Control Lab, School of Physical Education and Sport of Ribeirão Preto, University of São Paulo, Brazil.
Biomechanics and Motor Control Lab, School of Physical Education and Sport of Ribeirão Preto, University of São Paulo, Brazil; Graduate Program in Rehabilitation and Functional Performance, Ribeirão Preto Medical School, University of São Paulo, Ribeirão Preto, Brazil; Center for Human Movement Sciences, University of Groningen Medical Center, Groningen, The Netherlands.
Neurosci Lett. 2022 Jun 11;781:136682. doi: 10.1016/j.neulet.2022.136682. Epub 2022 May 16.
Balance deficits during walking increase the risk of falls in older adults. Providing haptic information through anchors improves dynamic balance control, but the benefits of practicing with anchors during walking need to be evaluated. We investigated the effect of practice with haptic anchors in the beam walking task in older adults. Twenty-five older adults participated in this study divided into 0% (G0, practice without the anchors) and 50% (G50, practice with the haptic anchors in 50% of the trials) groups. With the anchors, participants held in each hand a cable with a mass of 0.125 kg affixed to the end of the cable that contacted the ground. They walked and kept the anchors in contact with the ground such that they dragged them. Participants increased the distance walked on the beam and reduced the trunk angular acceleration after training, but this effect was independent of the anchors. The use of haptic anchors during beam walking training did not significantly affect older adults' performance and dynamic balance control. Both groups showed improvements in the post-test and 24-hr retention conditions, indicating that older adults can learn to adapt their gait to more challenging contexts.
行走时平衡能力不足会增加老年人跌倒的风险。通过锚点提供触觉信息可以改善动态平衡控制，但需要评估在行走过程中使用锚点进行练习的益处。我们研究了在老年人走平衡木任务中使用触觉锚点进行练习的效果。25 名老年人参与了这项研究，分为 0%（G0，不使用锚点练习）和 50%（G50，在 50%的试验中使用触觉锚点练习）组。使用锚点时，参与者双手握住一根电缆，电缆末端附有一个 0.125 公斤的质量块，电缆与地面接触。他们行走时，保持锚点与地面接触，以便拖动它们。训练后，参与者增加了在平衡木上行走的距离，减少了躯干角加速度，但这种效果与锚点无关。在平衡木行走训练中使用触觉锚点并没有显著影响老年人的表现和动态平衡控制。两组在测试后和 24 小时保持条件下都有所改善，这表明老年人可以学习适应更具挑战性的环境。
