Tai Chi Practitioners Have Superior Visuospatial Ability And Postural Stability During Goal-directed Movements

Abstract

PURPOSE: To explore the effects of long-term Tai Chi (TC) practice on visuospatial ability and postural stability among older adults during goal-directed upper body movements. METHODS: Thirty-seven TC practitioners and control group participants aged from 65 to 77 years were recruited from local communities. Goal-directed touch task (TT) and blind touch task (BTT) were performed in a fixed order. A force plate and a 12-camera motion analysis system were used to collected center of pressure (COP), ground reaction force and the markers’ three-dimensional data. The target positioning error (TPE), time to stabilization (TTS) and COP-related variables during the tasks were evaluated. RESULTS: Under both TT and BTT conditions, TC practitioners had less TPE in vertical direction (TC group: 20.3 ± 3.9 mm; control group: 34.9 ± 4.4 mm, p = 0.019, d = 0.848) and 3-dimensional space (TC group: 61.0 ± 6.9 mm; control group: 101.3 ± 10.3 mm, p = 0.003, d = 1.065), shorter time to stabilization (TTS) in anterior-posterior (AP) (p = 0.001, η2p = 0.458) and mediolateral (ML) directions (p < 0.001, η2p = 0.557), smaller 95% confidence ellipse area (Area, p < 0.001, η2p = 0.757), maximum distance (Dmax) in AP (p = 0.025, η2p = 0.263) and ML (p = 0.014, η2p = 0.304) directions, root mean square (RMS) of COP in AP (p = 0.02, η2p = 0.280) and ML (p < 0.001, η2p = 0.718) directions, compared to control group participants. Among both TC and control groups, larger Area (p = 0.012, η2p = 0.352), Dmaxap (p = 0.001, η2p = 0.496), Dmaxml (p = 0.002, η2p = 0.434), RMSap (p = 0.016, η2p = 0.297) and RMSml (p = 0.032, η2p = 0.256) were detected under TT conditions, compared to BTT conditions. CONCLUSION: Long-term TC practitioners have superior visuospatial stability and postural stability, indicated that long-term TC practice could decrease the fall risks among older adults.