Abstract
The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of distance and optic flow structure on visual information and body sway coupling in children and young adults. Thirty children (from 4 to 12 years of age) and 10 young adults stood upright inside of a moving room oscillating at 0.2 Hz, at 0.25 and 1.5 m from the front wall, and under three optical flow conditions (global, central, and peripheral). Effect of distance and optic flow structure on the coupling of visual information and body sway is age-dependent, with 4-year-olds being more affected at 0.25 m distance than older children and adults are. No such difference was observed at 1.5 m from the front wall. Moreover, 4-year-olds’ sway was larger and displayed higher variability. These results suggest that despite being able to accommodate change resulting from varying optic flow conditions, young children have difficulty in dodging stronger visual stimuli. Lastly, difference in sway performance may be due to immature inter-modality sensory reweighting.
Highlights
Studies have showed developmental changes in children’s postural control throughout their first decade of life (e.g., [1,2,3,4,5,6])
This study investigated the effect of distance and optical flow structure on visual information and body sway coupling in children and young adults
The results indicate that the effect of different distances between participants and the front wall of the moving room on their use of visual information to control body sway is age dependent
Summary
Studies have showed developmental changes in children’s postural control throughout their first decade of life (e.g., [1,2,3,4,5,6]). [7]), only recently has the relationship between sensory information and body dynamics control been examined in depth (e.g., [8,9,10,11,12]). These studies indicate that infants and children up to 8 years of age use sensory information to control posture, they do so in different ways as compared to older children and adults. One of the strategies employed to investigate the use of sensory information is to manipulate available cues to one sensory channel—with cues to other channels remaining unchanged—and observe motor responses to sensory manipulation [13]. Schmuckler [11] employed the moving room strategy with
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