Article

Postural adjustments are used by the central nervous system to pre-empt and
correct perturbations in balance during voluntary body movements. Alteration in
these responses is associated with a number of neuromuscular/musculoskeletal
conditions. Attention has been identified as important in this system; performing
a concurrent cognitive task has been suggested to reduce the efficacy of this
postural control. The aim of this study was to examine the effect of concurrent
cognitive tasking on anticipatory postural adjustments while sitting on an
exercise ball with a view to help inform future rehabilitation programmes.
Bilateral EMG activity was recorded from the external and internal obliques,
rectus abdominis, erector spinae and the right rectus femoris of 20 healthy
subjects (9 males) with mean (SD) age of 21.88 (0.86) years (range 21-24 years).
A rapid hip flexion protocol was carried out under three conditions: no
concurrent task, counting out loud up from one and completing a serial sevens
task. The addition of the cognitive task delayed and reduced the EMG in the prime
mover muscle but had little impact on the responses of the trunk muscles within
the time frame of the anticipatory responses; suggestive of a decoupling of
voluntary and postural control mechanisms. The results of this study suggest that
perhaps the clinical effects of dual task may not be largely due to changes in
anticipatory postural adjustments. However, it would be important to compare
these results to those seen in older and functionally impaired individuals as
this would be more representative of the typical population undertaking such
rehabilitation programmes.
CI - Copyright (c) 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Langue : ANGLAIS