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Sensory Bias Predicts Postural Stability, Anxiety, and Cognitive Performance in Healthy Adults Walking in Novel Discordant ConditionsWe designed a gait training study that presented combinations of visual flow and support surface manipulations to investigate the response of healthy adults to novel discordant sensorimotor conditions. We aimed to determine whether a relationship existed between subjects visual dependence and their scores on a collective measure of anxiety, cognition, and postural stability in a new discordant environment presented at the conclusion of training (Transfer Test). A treadmill was mounted to a motion base platform positioned 2 m behind a large visual screen. Training consisted of three walking sessions, each within a week of the previous visit, that presented four 5-minute exposures to various combinations of support surface and visual scene manipulations, all lateral sinusoids. The conditions were scene translation only, support surface translation only, simultaneous scene and support surface translations in-phase, and simultaneous scene and support surface translations 180 out-of-phase. During the Transfer Test, the trained participants received a 2-minute novel exposure. A visual sinusoidal roll perturbation, with twice the original flow rate, was superimposed on a sinusoidal support surface roll perturbation that was 90 out of phase with the scene. A high correlation existed between normalized torso translation, measured in the scene-only condition at the first visit, and a combined measure of normalized heart rate, stride frequency, and reaction time at the transfer test. Results suggest that visually dependent participants experience decreased postural stability, increased anxiety, and increased reaction times compared to their less visually dependent counterparts when negotiating novel discordant conditions.
Document ID
20090033692
Acquisition Source
Johnson Space Center
Document Type
Conference Paper
Authors
Brady, Rachel A.
(Wyle Integrated Science and Engineering Group Houston, TX, United States)
Batson, Crystal D.
(MEI Technologies, Inc. Houston, TX, United States)
Peters, Brian T.
(Wyle Integrated Science and Engineering Group Houston, TX, United States)
Mulavara, Ajitkumar P.
(Universities Space Research Association Houston, TX, United States)
Bloomberg, Jacob J.
(NASA Johnson Space Center Houston, TX, United States)
Date Acquired
August 24, 2013
Publication Date
January 1, 2010
Subject Category
Behavioral Sciences
Report/Patent Number
JSC-CN-18857
Meeting Information
Meeting: 3rd International Congress on Gait and Mental Function
Location: Washington, DC
Country: United States
Start Date: February 26, 2010
Distribution Limits
Public
Copyright
Other

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