Postural coordination modes considered as emergent phenomena.

TLDR

The study is grounded in dynamical theories of motor coordination. The study examined how torso and leg segments coordinate during standing in a suprapostural task. The experiment varied foot length, center‑of‑mass height, and head‑motion amplitude during a visual tracking task. Multisegment postural coordination was characterized by relative hip‑ankle phase, revealing in‑phase and anti‑phase modes whose emergence depended on task constraints, supporting an emergent‑phenomena view of coordination.

Abstract

The coordination of multiple body segments (torso and legs) in the control of standing posture during a suprapostural task was studied. The analysis was motivated by dynamical theories of motor coordination. In 2 experiments it was found that multisegment postural coordination could be described by the relative phase of rotations around the hip and ankle joints. The effective length of the feet, the height of the center of mass, and the amplitude of head motions in a visual tracking task were varied. Across these variations, 2 modes of hip-ankle coordination were observed: in-phase and anti-phase. The emergence of these modes was influenced by constraints imposed by the suprapostural tracking task, supporting the idea that such tasks influence postural control in an adaptive manner. Results are interpreted in terms of a dynamical approach to coordination in which postural coordination modes can be viewed as emergent phenomena.