Proposal Title: Maintaining Dynamic Balance Throughout the Life Span

Brief Abstract:

Musculoskeletal injury resulting from falls experienced by humans of all ages is costly. Maintenance of balance during goal directed tasks requires effective interaction between the control (nervous) and the dynamics (musculoskeletal) systems. Age-related alterations in nervous and musculoskeletal system capabilities introduce population-specific constraints that influence how an individual plans and executes weight bearing tasks. Students participating in this research project will advance their understanding of neural control strategies used to maintain dynamic balance during functional activities by using mechanical principles to analyze biomechanical data (physical plant assessment, kinematics, reaction forces, and neuromuscular activation patterns) acquired during weight bearing activities performed by young, middle-age, and older adults.

The results of this work will then be interpreted in light of theories related to the origins of hominid bipedalism and balance control by comparing form and function of bipedal behavior in nonhuman primates (as observed on videotapes of chimpanzees in the Jane Goodall Archive). Videotape generated as part of this work will also be used as source data to assess machine vision techniques developed in Center for Robotic and Embedded Systems (Computer Science). Kinematics, reaction force, and muscle activation data acquired during experimentation will also serve as input into an experimental based musculoskeletal model control of balance being developed by Witaya Mathiyakom (post doctorate fellow in Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering supported by a NIH Training Program in the Neurobiology and Endocrinology of Aging).