0000000000190023
AUTHOR
Dominic Orth
Effects of different lower-limb sensory stimulation strategies on postural regulation-a Systematic review and metaanalysis
Systematic reviews of balance control have tended to only focus on the effects of single lower-limb stimulation strategies, and a current limitation is the lack of comparison between different relevant stimulation strategies. The aim of this systematic review and meta-analysis was to examine evidence of effects of different lower-limb sensory stimulation strategies on postural regulation and stability. Moderate- to high-pooled effect sizes (Unbiased (Hedges' g) standardized mean differences (SMD) = 0.31-0.66) were observed with the addition of noise in a Stochastic Resonance Stimulation Strategy (SRSS), in three populations (i.e., healthy young adults, older adults, and individuals with low…
Understanding Action and Adventure Sports Participation—An Ecological Dynamics Perspective
© 2017, The Author(s). Previous research has considered action and adventure sports using a variety of associated terms and definitions which has led to confusing discourse and contradictory research findings. Traditional narratives have typically considered participation exclusively as the pastime of young people with abnormal characteristics or personalities having unhealthy and pathological tendencies to take risks because of the need for thrill, excitement or an adrenaline ‘rush’. Conversely, recent research has linked even the most extreme forms of action and adventure sports to positive physical and psychological health and well-being outcomes. Here, we argue that traditional framewor…
Constraints representing a meta-stable régime facilitate exploration during practice and transfer of learning in a complex multi-articular task
Previous investigations have shown that inducing meta-stability\ud in behavior can be achieved by overlapping affordances through constraint\ud manipulation, allowing cooperative and competitive tendencies to\ud functionally coexist. The purpose of this paper was to test a number of\ud conditions applying these design principles on performance during skills\ud practice and transfer. Of additional interest, was whether the existing\ud skill level interacted with the environmental properties of the\ud experimental tasks (varying indoor climbing routes). Two skill groups\ud practised on three routes per session over four separate sessions. At the\ud end of the final session, climbers undertook…
The Role of Textured Material in Supporting Perceptual-Motor Functions
Simple deformation of the skin surface with textured materials can improve human perceptual-motor performance. The implications of these findings are inexpensive, adaptable and easily integrated clothing, equipment and tools for improving perceptual-motor functionality. However, some clarification is needed because mixed results have been reported in the literature, highlighting positive, absent and/or negative effects of added texture on measures of perceptual-motor performance. Therefore the aim of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of textured materials for enhancing perceptual-motor functionality. The systematic review uncovered two variables suitable for sub-group analysis within …
Pattern recognition in cyclic and discrete skills performance from inertial measurement units
The aim of this study is to compare and validate an Inertial Measurement Unit (IMU) relative to an optic system, and to propose methods for pattern recognition to capture behavioural dynamics during sport performance. IMU validation was conducted by comparing the motions of the two arms of a compass, which was equipped with IMUs and reflective landmarks detected by a multi-camera system. Spearman’s rank correlation tests showed good correlations between the IMU and multi-camera system, especially when the angles were normalized. Bland-Altman plot, root mean square and the normalized pairwise variability index showed low differences between the two systems, confirming the good accuracy level…
An ecological dynamics framework for the acquisition of perceptual-motor skills in climbing
Uncertainty in extreme sports performance environments, like rock and ice climbing, provides considerable psycho-emotional and physiological demands which challenge the acquisition of perceptual-motor skills. An ecological dynamics theoretical framework adopts concepts and tools of nonlinear dynamics and ecological psychology to investigate and model the relationships that emerge in extreme sports between athletes and their performance environments. In this relation, the interactions of athletes with key objects, surfaces, events and significant others during a sport like climbing emerge from interdependent personal, task and environmental constraints on performance. Performance behaviours …
Hold design supports learning and transfer of climbing fluency
Being a discipline with a broad range of genres, rock climbing is an activity where participants seek to generalize the skills they learn in different performance contexts. A training strategy for achieving skill transfer was explored in a group of experienced climbers. Specifically, we tested the effect of practising on three routes, each of the same difficulty, but where handholds supported opportunities for using either a single technical action or multiple actions. Transfer of climbing fluidity in terms of the geometric index of entropy (GIE) of the hip trajectory was then assessed. We expected that learning would be induced on the route where multiple actions were usable. Results revea…
The Role of Textured Material in Supporting Perceptual-Motor Functions
Simple deformation of the skin surface with textured materials can improve human perceptual-motor performance. The implications of these findings are inexpensive, adaptable and easily integrated clothing, equipment and tools for improving perceptual-motor functionality. However, some clarification is needed because mixed results have been reported in the literature, highlighting positive, absent and/or negative effects of added texture on measures of perceptual-motor performance. Therefore the aim of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of textured materials for enhancing perceptual-motor functionality. The systematic review uncovered two variables suitable for sub-group analysis within …
Effects of different lower-limb sensory stimulation strategies on postural regulation : A systematic review and meta-analysis
Systematic reviews of balance control have tended to only focus on the effects of single lower-limb stimulation strategies, and a current limitation is the lack of comparison between different relevant stimulation strategies. The aim of this systematic review and meta-analysis was to examine evidence of effects of different lower-limb sensory stimulation strategies on postural regulation and stability. Moderate- to high- pooled effect sizes (Unbiased (Hedges’ g) standardized mean differences (SMD) = 0.31–0.66) were observed with the addition of noise in a Stochastic Resonance Stimulation Strategy (SRSS), in three populations (i.e., healthy young adults, older adults, and individuals with lo…