Article

In the present study we aimed to track the influence of natural gaze behaviour on
postural control from early childhood into adulthood. We measured time series of
centre of pressure (COP) as well as head movement in three children groups aged
around five (n=16), eight (n=15), and eleven (n=14) and in one group of young
adults (n=15) during quiet stance with eyes closed, gaze fixed on a dot, and with
gaze shifts between two dots. We adopted magnitude and irregularity of COP
displacement as indexes of postural control and cross correlation between COP
displacement and target oscillation as an index of the dynamical coupling between
the postural and visual systems. Magnitude and irregularity of COP displacement
decreased with age, which suggests a steady improvement of postural control from
five to beyond eleven years of age. Cross correlations were weak and relative
phases highly variable across age groups. Across conditions, and most prominently
in the gaze shift conditions, 5-year-olds showed both more head movement and
lower postural stability than other age groups. Finally, only in 5-year-olds did
we find a marked deterioration of postural stability with gaze shifts. We thus
conclude that excessive head movement, particularly during gaze shifts, may be a
primary cause of lower postural stability in young children compared to older
children and adults.
CI - Copyright (c) 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
Enfant

Langue : ANGLAIS