@article{ref1,
title="Gaze behavior of older adults during rapid balance-recovery reactions",
journal="Journals of gerontology. Series A: Biological sciences and medical sciences",
year="2008",
author="Zettel, John L. and McIlroy, William E. and Maki, B. E.",
volume="63",
number="8",
pages="885-891",
abstract="Background. Rapid stepping reactions are a prevalent response to sudden loss of balance and play a crucial role in preventing falls. A previous study indicated that young adults are able to guide these stepping reactions amid challenging environmental constraints using&quot;stored&quot;visuospatial information. This study addressed whether healthy older adults also use&quot;stored&quot;visuospatial information in this manner, or are more dependent on&quot;online&quot;visual control. Methods. Gaze behavior was recorded during rapid forward-stepping reactions evoked by unpredictable platform perturbation, as participants performed a concurrent task demanding visual attention. Challenging obstacles and/or step targets were used to increase demands for accurate foot motion. Twelve healthy older adults (61-73 years) were compared to 12 young adults (22-29 years) tested in a previous study. Results. Similar to young adults, older participants seldom redirected gaze downward in response to the perturbation (11% of trials), yet were commonly able to clear the obstacle (74% of trials) or land on the target (41% of trials) while stepping to recover balance. The threat posed by the obstacle apparently prompted older adults to initiate early downward saccades during a small proportion (18%) of obstacle trials; however, this did not improve ability to clear the obstacle. Conclusion. Aging did not alter the predominant visual-control strategy used to guide the stepping reactions. Both young and older persons typically used stored visuospatial information, thereby allowing vision/attention to be switched to other demands during the stepping reaction and minimizing head/eye movements that could exacerbate the destabilizing effect of the balance perturbation.<p /> <p>Language: en</p>",
language="en",
issn="1079-5006",
doi="",
url="http://dx.doi.org/"
}