Anticipatory postural adjustments in children with typical motor development

Abstract

Anticipatory postural adjustments (APAs) play an important role in the performance of many activities requiring the maintenance of vertical posture. However, little is known about how children utilize APAs during self-induced postural perturbations. A group of children, aged 7-16 years, with typical motor development, performed various arm movements while standing on a force platform. APAs were measured by recording the electromyographic activity of six trunk and leg muscles on both sides of the body and displacement of center of pressure (COP). Anticipatory bursts of activity in the dorsal muscle groups of the trunk and legs and suppression in the ventral muscle groups as well as posterior COP displacement were found during the performance of bilateral shoulder flexion. Conversely, during bilateral shoulder extension, the COP displacement was anterior, and APAs were reversed showing bursts of activity in the ventral muscle groups and suppression in the dorsal muscles. During right and left reciprocal arm movements, COP displacement was minimal and APAs were generated in the dorsal muscle groups on the side of the forward moving arm and in the ventral muscle groups on the side of the arm moving into extension. However this pattern reversed for lower leg muscles, where APAs were generated in the ventral muscles on the side of forward moving arm and in the dorsal muscle on the side of the arm moving into extension. The results of this study indicate that children with typical motor development are able to generate APAs, produce task-specific sequencing of muscle activity and differentiate between perturbations in the sagittal and transverse planes. The results of this study indicate that by at least age 7, children who are typically developing demonstrate the ability to generate patterns of anticipatory muscle activation and suppression, along with center of pressure changes, similar to those reported in healthy adults.

Dual-task functional exercises as an effective way to improve dynamic balance in persons with intellectual disability – continuation of the project

“…Participants performed exercises barefooted, which additionally stimulated the mechanoreceptors of the foot (its sole side is one of the most important zones of proprioceptive sensory input entry) [28] and aroused proprioceptive information to the trunk and other postural muscles [29]. Functional tasks consisting of the ADLs required both the ability to concentrate on one or more things at a time, as well as balanced postural alignment [30] in which the anticipatory postural adjustment (APA) [31] played the key role. Research on children and adolescents with normal posture revealed that the APA could adjust to the changeable external conditions that affected stable postural alignment [31] and the APA patterns by a one-time training of functional activities developing righting reactions and the speed of reaction in healthy individuals [32].…”

“…Functional tasks consisting of the ADLs required both the ability to concentrate on one or more things at a time, as well as balanced postural alignment [30] in which the anticipatory postural adjustment (APA) [31] played the key role. Research on children and adolescents with normal posture revealed that the APA could adjust to the changeable external conditions that affected stable postural alignment [31] and the APA patterns by a one-time training of functional activities developing righting reactions and the speed of reaction in healthy individuals [32]. According to the authors of the study, improved postural control revealed after a single intervention programme might also be reflected in individuals who require an increased sense of stability [32].…”

Postural Adjustments in Catching: On the Interplay Between Segment Stabilization and Equilibrium Control

“…The presence of APA has typically been evidenced by a consistent backward shift of COP-displacement before t 0 (Aruin & Latash, 1995;Hodges et al, 1999;Cuisinier et al, 2005;Hirschfeld, 2007;Girolami et al, 2010;Aimola et al, 2011), and has been represented by mean values from single representative subjects. In this experiment, however, no representative subject could be selected.…”

Kinematic parameters of throwing performance in patients with schizophrenia using a markerless motion capture system

“…Abnormal postural adaptation in schizophrenia patients was also found by Kent et al (2012), who observed increased postural sway and less complex postural responses when the visual input was removed compared with participants from the control group. According to Girolami et al (2010), anticipatory activation of the trunk muscles along with changes in the center of pressure are present in children with typical development as young as 7 years of age, and are sustained in adulthood.…”