Little is known about the psychological processes through which people connect to nature. From social psychology, we know that emotions play an essential role when connecting to others. In this article, we argue that social connectedness and connectedness to nature are underpinned by the same emotions. More specifically, we propose that social relational emotions are crucial to understanding the process through which humans connect to nature. Beside other emotions, kama muta (Sanskrit: being moved by love) might play a particular crucial role when connecting to nature. Future research should consider the role of social relational emotions in human-nature relationships.
Background
In recent years, minimalist footwear has been increasingly promoted for its use in sportive and recreational activities. These shoes are considered to function naturally like barefoot walking while providing a protective surface. Despite a growing popularity of these shoes in the older population, little is known about the influence of minimalist footwear on gait patterns. This study investigated whether overground walking with minimalist shoes is comparable to barefoot walking regarding gait stability and variability parameters.
Methods
In a randomized within-subject study design, 31 healthy younger (29 ± 4 years) and 33 healthy community-dwelling older adults (71 ± 4 years) volunteered. Participants walked on flat ground, once barefoot and once with minimalist shoes. Gait variability of minimum toe clearance (MTC), stride length, stride time, and local dynamic gait stability were analysed.
Results
The results for both age groups showed significant condition effects (minimalist shoes vs. barefoot walking) for the outcomes of local dynamic stability (p = .013), MTC variability (p = .018), and stride length variability (p < .001) indicating increased local dynamic stability and decreased gait variability during the minimalist shoe condition. Group effects (young vs. older adults) were detected in all gait outcomes.
Conclusion
Walking with minimalist shoes appeared to be associated with better gait performance than walking barefoot in both age groups. Thus, walking with minimalist shoes is not similar to barefoot walking. With respect to reducing the risk of falling, we suggest that minimalist shoes could be an alternative to barefoot walking or a transition option between shoes to barefoot for older adults.
Diminishing proprioception caused by aging effects is associated with a higher risk to fall. However, existing measurement systems of proprioception are often expensive, time-consuming, or insufficient regarding reliability evaluation. Inertial sensor-based systems could address these issues. Consequently, this study sought to develop and evaluate an inertial sensor-based joint position sense test. Thereto, intra-session and inter-day test-retest reliability were investigated in a cross-over design. Twenty healthy younger (age: 22 ± 3 years) and 20 healthy older adults (age: 65 ± 5 years) participated in the study. We calculated the mean of the absolute error, the signed error, and the standard deviation of the signed error. Test-retest reliability was quantified by using the intraclass correlation coefficient as well as the bias and limits of agreement. To evaluate the possibility of capturing aging effects, and correspondingly a validation of the system, we calculated Cohen's d. For the intra-session reliability, fair to good agreements were achieved for the absolute and relative error in all target ranges. Compared to younger adults, we registered a declined joint position sense in older adults with high effects observed for the absolute error in a target range of 15-25 and 35-45 • as well as for the variable error in the target ranges of 35-45 and 55-65 •. We suggest that inertial sensor-based joint position sense tests are reliable and capable to measure aging effects on proprioception, and are therefore a low-cost and mobile alternative to existing methods.
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