Gazing down increases standing and walking postural steadiness.

ABSTRACT: When walking on an uneven surface or complex terrain, humans tend to gaze downward. This behaviour is usually interpreted as an attempt to acquire useful information to guide locomotion. Visual information, however, is not used exclusively for guiding locomotion; it is also useful for postural control. Both locomotive and postural control have been shown to be sensitive to the visual flow arising from the respective motion of the individual and the three-dimensional environment. This flow changes when a person gazes downward and may present information that is more appropriate for postural control. To investigate whether downward gazing can be used for postural control, rather than exclusively for guiding locomotion, we quantified the dynamics of standing and walking posture in healthy adu

SUBMITTER: Koren Y 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8074885 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature