Standing balance Flashcards
what is a base of support
area bounded by the points of contact between the feet and the ground
- larger base of support = more stable
what is the romberg stance
one foot in front of the other
what is the romberg test
challenges balance and is used to measure postural stability
- subjective (judged by clinician)
- not great inter and intrarater reliability (could be different each time)
what are the different strategies that people adopt during the romberg test
hip only - counter balance by bending at the hips
ankle only - flexing ankles to control mvmt
combined hip and ankle - usually how a heathy person moves
what is the centre of gravity / mass
average position of all the mass in an object
- depends on the configuration of the object / body
how is the CoG involved in balance
as long as the CoG remains within the base of support you will be able to fix any instability
what is the centre of pressure
calculated from the ground reaction forces
represents the resultant ground reaction force
- used to approximate centre of gravity
how is the CoP involved in balance
apply forces to the ground which continuously shifts the position of our CoP
- highlights the importance of plantar cutaneous sensory input
what is the control of postural sway
motor system continuously makes small postural adjustments
when standing still, constantly swaying in the anterolateral and mediolateral planes (usually somewhat circular)
what is the inverted pendulum model
simplified model that captures the major aspects of standing balance
(assumes ankle strategy to balance)
what is the difference in muscles used during balance perturbations
different muscles fire during perturbations depending on whether the ankle or hip strategy is used
(infer which muscles are being used while leaning forward or backward)
what is the use of the swinging room apparatus in balance perturbations
manipulates visual sense to make us move (using optic flow)
shows the importance of visual info in controlling balance
- people sway back and forth with the optic flow stimulus
what is the use of sway referencing in balance perturbations
sway referencing = moving along with the postural sway
visual scene moves along with the sway of the person
used to separate senses used for balance
what is the SOT
sensory organisation test
helps us rate the functioning of certain systems used for balance
SOT-5 = vestibular dysfunction test
