Slack line series#

(2011), is that it is the integration between sensory systems, rather than the sensory systems themselves, that is underdeveloped in children. A second explanation, offered by Woollacott et al. (2006), and Hirabayashi and Iwasaki (1995) have shown – by means of CDP – that proprioceptive function in stance stability is adult-like between 3 and 4 years of age, whereas the visual and vestibular systems reach adult-like levels only at 15–16 years of age. In line with this idea, Cumberworth et al. First, it may be due to an immaturity of the involved sensory systems (i.e., visual, vestibular, somatosensory). The reasons offered for children’s lower PS in static and the above described dynamic situations have been threefold. Other studies used a treadmill moving sinusoidally forward-backward in relation to the subject at different frequencies ( Berger et al., 1995 Mallau et al., 2010), an oscillator fixed to a force platform ( Fujiwara et al., 2011) or a stabilometer platform ( Golomer et al., 1997) to study children’s dynamic balance. In this test series, three conditions with unstable surface are included.

Slack line series#

Most studies assessing dynamic balance in children (e.g., Peterka and Black, 1990 Foudriat et al., 1993 Hirabayashi and Iwasaki, 1995 Ionescu et al., 2006 Steindl et al., 2006 Cumberworth et al., 2007) used the widely accepted Computerized Dynamic Posturography (CDP) test series called the sensory organization test (SOT) developed by Nashner (1997). Moreover, children were found to adapt less well to changes in the oscillation frequency of a moving support surface than did adults ( Berger et al., 1995). Likewise, it has been shown that the decreased PS in children as compared to adults persists or even becomes more pronounced under conditions of an unstable support surface or sensory conflict ( Lee and Aronson, 1974 Peterka and Black, 1990 Foudriat et al., 1993 Berger et al., 1995 Hirabayashi and Iwasaki, 1995 Golomer et al., 1997 Ionescu et al., 2006 Steindl et al., 2006 Cumberworth et al., 2007 Mallau et al., 2010 Fujiwara et al., 2011). Children are less stable than adults and postural stability (PS) improves as a function of age (e.g., Shumway-Cook and Woollacott, 1985 Cherng et al., 2001 Rival et al., 2005 Ionescu et al., 2006 Steindl et al., 2006 Cumberworth et al., 2007 Ferber-Viart et al., 2007 Hsu et al., 2009 Cuisinier et al., 2011 Schärli et al., 2012) and motor competence of children (e.g., Roncesvalles et al., 2001). Many studies have investigated the development of postural control in children during quiet upright stance. They also suggest that the lack of head and gaze stability constitutes an important limiting factor in children’s ability to master such tasks. The results imply that the lower postural stability of 8-year-olds compared to adults – as found in simple upright stance – holds true for dynamic, novel tasks in which adults lack the advantage of more practice. Trunk-in-space and head-on-trunk rotations did not differ between groups. Eight-year-olds also showed more head-in-space rotation and translation, and more gaze variability around a visual anchor point they were instructed to fixate. Eight-year-olds fell off the slackline quicker and were generally less stable on the slackline than adults. We compared 8-year-olds with young adults and assessed the following outcome measures: time on the slackline, stability on the slackline (calculated from slackline reaction force), gaze movement, head-in-space rotation and translation, trunk-in-space rotation, and head-on-trunk rotation. We investigated whether the same holds true for a task that was novel for both children and adults and highly dynamic: single-legged stance on a slackline.

3Institute of Biomechanics, ETH Zurich, Zurich, SwitzerlandĬhildren are less stable than adults during static upright stance.

2Institute of Sport Science, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland.1Institute of Human Movement Sciences and Sport, ETH Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland.Kurt Murer 1 and Rolf van de Langenberg 1 Andrea Melanie Schärli 1,2*, Melanie Keller 1,