Vestibular System in Performance of Standing Balance of Children and Young Adults under Altered Sensory Conditions

Abstract

Inputs from the visual, somatosensory and vestibular systems must be integrated efficiently to activate appropriate motor responses in maintaining optimal balance. This study examined the standing balance of 17 children (7 to 10 years old) and 17 young adults (19 to 23 years old) as a function of sensory organization, sensory system efficiency, and postural strategy adopted. Tests of standing balance were administered under six sensory conditions created by simultaneous alteration of the visual (full, occluded, or sway-referenced) and the somatosensory inputs (fixed-foot or compliant-foot support). The sway area and the sway amplitude of the center of pressure were measured and analyzed. Three findings are notable. The function of sensory organization for balance control was poorer for the children than the young adults. The functional efficiency of the somatosensory and the visual systems of children have developed to the young adult level, but that of the vestibular system has not. There was no difference between children and young adults in hip control, but there was in ankle control when the vestibular input was the only reliable source of sensory input. These results suggest that the functional efficiency of the vestibular system in children 7 to 10 years of age may still be developing. This may account for their poorer function of sensory organization and lower performance of standing balance.

Age-related changes of single-limb standing balance in children with and without deafness

“…When children maintain their single-limb standing balance under eyes-closed, compliant-footsupport conditions, such as condition 4, the vestibular inputs are essential in providing an absolute reference for postural control. However, vestibular function develops more slowly than do visual and somatosensory functions (Cherng, Chen, and Su 2001;Nashner 1982). Hirabayashi and Iwasaki (1995) Our results can be explained by the concept of sensory weighting, which asserts that people maintain their postural stability based on the relative accuracy of sensory input reporting the body's position and movement in space (Kuo et al 1998;Nashner 1982).…”

Balance and postural control in basketball players

“…For vision (31), maturing time also varies according to the literature. Cherng et al (32) has found out that children between 7-10 years old had the same efficiency in the use of vision for balance, while standing on both feet, when compared to an adult (32,33 …”

Sensory Integration in Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder: Implications to Postural Control

“…Poor stability with significant deficits in SOT was reported in ADHD/C by Shum &(Pang (2009) andCherng et al (2001). As the individual matures and develops, sensory integration mechanisms are developed to suppress or inhibit irrelevant information and keep an excess of central nervous system arousal in check (Wang et al, 2003).…”

“…They found that ADHD children were more dependent on visual feedback during the execution of the movement. It is well known that of the three sensory systems, the vestibular apparatus is the one lagging behind in development (Cherng et al, 2001). This phenomenon was more pronounced in the studied ADHD/C when compared to the TD children suggesting a delay in the maturation process that involves the vestibular system.…”