Article

The aim of this study was to evaluate the role of proprioception in controlling balance during
gait in healthy participants and after stroke. Twelve healthy and 9 hemiparetic
participants walked on an instrumented treadmill in a fully lit room, while
whole-body, three-dimensional kinematics were quantified. Vibration was applied
continuously or during the stance phase only, on the posterior neck muscles and
triceps surae tendon on the non-dominant/paretic side. Difficulty in maintaining
dynamic and postural balance was evaluated using stabilizing and destabilizing
forces, respectively. Continuous and stance phase vibration of the triceps surae
reduced the difficulty in maintaining both dynamic and postural balance in
healthy participants (p<.05), with a greater distance between the center of
pressure and the limit of the potential base of support, a more backward body
position, and no change in spatio-temporal gait parameters. No effect of neck
muscle vibration was observed on balance (p=.63 and above). None of the vibration
conditions affected balance or gait parameters among stroke participants. The
results confirmed that proprioceptive information was not used to control balance
during gait in stroke participants. The importance of proprioceptive information
may depend on other factors such as walking and visual conditions. Changes in
sensory integration ability likely explain the results after stroke. Further
study is needed to understand the integration of proprioceptive and visual
information to control balance during gait after stroke.
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Langue : ANGLAIS