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Infant sitting postural control appears robust across changes in surface context |
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| Authors: | Elena Kokkoni Joshua L. Haworth Regina T. Harbourne Nicholas Stergiou Anastasia Kyvelidou |
| Affiliation: | 1. Biomechanics and Movement Science Program, University of Delaware, Newark, DE, USA;2. Department of Kinesiology, Whittier College, Whittier, CA, USA;3. Rangos School of Health Sciences, Physical Therapy, Duquesne University, Pittsburgh, PA, USA;4. Department of Biomechanics, University of Nebraska at Omaha, Omaha, NE, USA;5. Department of Environmental Agricultural and Occupational Health, College of Public Health, University of Nebraska Medical Center, Omaha, NE, USA;6. Department of Physical Therapy, Creighton University, Omaha, NE, USA |
| Abstract: | Aim of the study: Independent sitting requires the control of the involved body segments over the base of support using information obtained from the three sensory systems (visual, vestibular, and somatosensory). The contribution of somatosensory information in infant sitting has not been explored. To address this gap, we altered the context of the sitting support surface and examined the infants’ immediate postural responses. Materials and methods: Ten 7-month-old typically developing infants sat on compliant and firm surfaces in one session. Spatial, frequency, and temporal measures of postural control were obtained using center of pressure data. Results Our results suggest that infants’ postural sway is not immediately affected by the different types of foam surface while sitting. Conclusions: It seems that mature sitter infants are able to adapt to different environmental constraints by disregarding the distorted somatosensory information from the support surface and relying more on their remaining senses (visual and vestibular) to control their sitting posture. |
| Keywords: | Development posture somatosensory |