The importance of vision and the visual control of movement have been addressed in the literature related to motor control. Many studies have demonstrated that children with low motor competence in comparison to their typically developing peers may rely more heavily on vision to perform movements. The aim of the study was to highlight the effects of different visual conditions on motor performance during walking in children with different levels of motor coordination. Participants (n=8, Mean age = 8.5±.5 years) were divided into typical development (TD) and low motor coordination (LMC) group. They were asked to walk along a 10-meter walkway provided by Optojump-Next instrument that was placed in a portable construction (15 x 3 x 2.5m). This construction was surrounded by dark blue fibers in which all participants perceived the same visual information. They walked in a self-selected speed under four visual conditions: full vision (FV), limited vision 150 ms (LV-150), limited vision 100 ms (LV-100) and non-vision (NV). For visual occlusion during walking in LV-150 and LV-100, participants were equipped with Plato Goggles that opened for 150 and 100 ms, respectively, within each 2 sec. Data were analyzed in a two-way mixed between-within ANOVA including 2 (groups: TD vs. LMC) x 4 (visual condition: FV, LV-150, LV-100 & NV) with repeated-measures on the last factor (p≤.05). Results indicated that TD children walked faster and with longer strides than LMC children in which these parameters can influence on different periods of gait cycle including stance and swing phases. Also, perceiving visual information for 150 ms in comparison to 100 ms while walking was enough for similar performance in FV condition. The present findings highlight underlying parameters of gait cycle for walking in TD compared to LMC children are different.Key words: visual information; motor performance; walking pattern; optojump.
AbstractCorrespondence/correspondencia: Miriam Palomo-Nieto Faculty of Physical Culture. Palacky University. Olomouc (Czech Republic) Email: miriam.palomo.nieto@gmail.com La importancia de la visión y del control visual en el movimiento es un asunto ampliamente abordado y tratado en la literatura científica referida al control motor. Muchos estudios han demostrado que los niños con un bajo nivel de competencia motriz dependen en mayor medida de la visión para realizar diferentes movimientos respecto de sus iguales. El objetivo de este estudio fue destacar el efecto que diferentes condiciones visuales tenían en el rendimiento motor durante la marcha en niños con diferente nivel de coordinación motriz. Los participantes (n = 8, Ma = 8.5 años sd. ± 0.5) fueron divididos en dos grupos: desarrollo motor típico (TD) y coordinación motora baja (LMC). Los participantes debían andar dentro de un laboratorio portátil (15 x 3 x 2.5m), a lo largo de un pasillo de 10 metros donde se instaló el instrumento Optojump-Next. Dicha construcción, rodeada de una tela óscura, permitía que todos los participantes tuvieran la misma informaci...