The influence of sounds on posture control

PURPOSE

It is still not clear which parameters of sound are the most significant for body reactions and whether the way of sound reception plays a role in body control. The purpose of this study was to determine the influence of frequency, spectrum and loudness of sounds on posture control in healthy women and men.

METHODS

The study subjects were 29 young adults who were submitted to a 60-second standing test in the bipedal stance on the force platform (AMTI). During the tests, 3 sinusoidal sounds with various timing and 2 musical sounds (guitar and piano) of the frequency 225 Hz, 1000 Hz and 4000 Hz were applied through headphones. The centre of pressure (COP) amplitude was registered. The sway area and COP mean velocity were computed.

RESULTS

It was found that high frequency sounds contributed to a significant decrease of sway area values. No significant influence of low frequency sounds on posture control was observed. The influence of the sound spectrum (timbre) on posture control is limited; only the crescendo spectrum improves the body stability in the bipedal stance and not the music spectrum as guitar and piano. The loudness of sound, although extremely high, is not the cause of postural control changing in relation to lower loudness. No effect of gender was found in terms of body stability under different sound conditions.

CONCLUSION

Based on the results, it can be argued that, in general, in a bipedal stance in terms of stability high sound frequency improves posture control, whereas sound spectrum and intensity show a limited impact.

Posture control development in children aged 2-7 years old, based on the changes of repeatability of the stability indices

One of the most common problems encountered in posture control studies is relatively poor repeatability of postural stability measures based on the COP (center of pressure) time-series which results from the inherent variability of postural control. The repeatability of the data reflecting the postural control mechanisms in young children is still not well enough explained. The differences between of the repeatability of the stability indices of left and right foot may reflect the lateralization development of legs in the support function. The aim of the present study was two-fold: the assessment of the repeatability of the stability indices in three consecutive trials in young children, aged 2-7 years old, during quiet bipedal stance and the description of process of lower limbs lateralization, based on the difference of repeatability of both feet stability the indices changing with years. The subjects were 272 young healthy children aged 2-7 years old separated in 6 groups for children of different age. Each child stood for around 90s on two AccuSway force platforms (AMTI). The shifts of COP beneath left and right legs were recorded onto a computer by using appropriate software compatible with platforms. The indices of the ellipse area and velocity COP shifts were calculated. For assessment of the repeatability the concordance correlation coefficient (CCC) of the indices was used between the 1st and 2nd, 2nd and 3rd, and 1st and 3rd trials. Young children of 2-4 years old exhibit low level of the stability indices repeatability which increases in 5-year-old children, 6-year-olds revealed both low and high and 7-year-olds good and high levels of repeatability. Youngest children showed higher repeatability of the ellipse area of the left leg, 3- and 4-year-olds the right leg, while 6-year-olds again the left leg. In 5- and 7-year-olds there were no differences in the repeatability of stability indices between the left and right foot. The comparisons of the repeatability of the velocity index between the left and right leg revealed the difference only in 3 years old children. Posture control development of children can be assessed on the basis of velocity index but the COP ellipse area index is better way to describe the lateralization process. The repeatability of the stability indices is poor from 2 to 4 year of life but increases significantly from 5 to 7 year of life. The comparisons of repeatability between the left and right foot indices reflect the developmental process of lateralization of lower limbs in the support function and reveal that the left lower leg is a dominant one in support function while standing position. The process of leg lateralization is finishing about 6th year of life.

Repeatability of frequency of corrective foot pressure during balance control in children aged between 2 and 7

The frequency of corrective signal (the centre of corrective (COC) signal), which is the decomposition of COP (centre of pressure) and estimated COM (centre of mass) time series, is one of the indicators reflecting the quality of postural control during stance. Young children, in the period of intensive development, gradually improve the quality of postural control in a daily life. The purpose of this paper was to describe the time series of corrective centre of foot pressure repeatability in young children aged between 2 and 7 during body stability in natural stance position. 272 healthy children aged between 2 and 7 were divided into 6 age groups. Two AccuSway force platforms were used (one foot of the subject was on one platform, the second foot, on the other). The COP trajectories were the basis for the calculation of the frequency stability indices in frontal and sagittal planes for the left leg and right leg separately. The COC signals were collected by the method based on the Kuczyński viscoelastic model. In order to assess the repeatability, the concordance correlation coefficient (CCC) was used between the 1st and the 2nd trials, the 2nd and the 3rd trials, and the 1st and the 3rd trials. The maturation of postural control system goes rather slowly in two youngest groups which showed the poor repeatability in COC frequency between the 2nd and the 3rd years of life. From the 4th to the 7th year of life the inter-session repeatability rapidly increases in three consecutive trials. Poor difference of frequency concordance was found between the left and right lower limbs. It is concluded that the frequency of corrective foot pressure is the reliable indicator of postural control for children aged between 4 and 7, but not for younger ones.