Investigating the stabilising and mobilising features of footedness

Abstract

This study investigated lower limb laterality for stabilising and mobilising actions in 10 right- and 10 mixed-footed participants by determining, via the Waterloo Footedness Questionnaire--Revised (WFQ-R), the preferred foot in carrying out a range of stabilising and mobilising activities and by recording foot performance on standing balance and ball juggling. The log odds ratio (lambda score) was used to quantify the degree of laterality in task performance. Differences between the stability and mobility scores and the two groups were analyzed using a 2 (Group) x 2 (Task) ANOVA model with repeated measures on Task. Right- and mixed-footed participants differed significantly in the stability but not in the mobility items of the WFQ-R. No significant between-group differences were noted in either ball-juggling or standing balance performance. Mixed-footed participants had a significant right-left foot difference in standing balance, whereas both groups had a significant right-left foot difference in ball juggling. It is concluded that preference is not a steady attribute across the mobility and stability items of the WFQ-R and appears to be dependent on the behavioural context of a particular task. Results further indicated a lack of concordance between questionnaire and performance-based measures suggesting that these two methods of measuring laterality may be indicators of different underlying factors.

Could be the predominantly-used hemibody related to the weight bearing distribution modified by the chronic hemiparesis after stroke?

“…The non-paretic side was defined as the predominantly-used hemibody by convenience while the predominantly-used hemibody by preference was assessed by the Waterloo Footedness Questionnaire-Revised (WFQ-R) [5]. The impairments in the affected hemibody were assessed by the Orpington Prognostic Scale (OPS) [12] ranging from 1.6 to 6.8 which classifies the paretic side in light (1.6 6 OPS 6 3.1), moderate (3.1 < OPS 6 5.1) or (OPS > 5.1) severe impaired.…”

“…Since the first discoveries about the existence of lateralized functions in the human brain [1], they have been suggested right-left asymmetries to many of the higher cerebral functions, including motor control [2][3][4][5][6].…”

Paresthesias as Reflection of the Lateral Asymmetry of Neural Function in Human

“…Further research lead to the hypothesis that the nondominant arm controller has become specialized for regulating limb impedance, which is needed to achieve steady-state positions (Bagesteiro & Sainburg, 2003Duff and Sainburg, 2006;Schabowsky et al, 2007). Footedness has been previously reported as an important factor in predicting the motor preparation dependent on the behavioural context of a particular task (Carpes et al, 2007;Gabbard & Iteya, 1996;Grouios et al, 2009). It has been claimed that the footedness may be a better predictor of the cerebral lateralization than the handedness (Elias, Bryden & Bulman-Fleming, 1998;Strauss & Wada, 1983).…”

Laterality of Static and Dynamic Balance Abilities during One-leg Standing

“…Many researchers [4,5] reported that laterality is found in grip strength of dominant and non-dominant hands with different use frequency in daily life. On the other hand, regarding the lower limb, Grouios et al [6] reported a dominant leg used for maneuvering a ball and the other used for maintaining postural stability. However, Burnie and Brodie [7], Neumann et al [8], and Masuda et al [9] reported that a right-left difference was not found in maximum extension strength of hip and knee joints.…”