Axial rotation in Parkinson's disease.

Aims: To investigate the ability of patients with Parkinson's disease to perform a rotation around the longitudinal axis of the body. Three questions were raised. Is body rotation impaired in Parkinson's disease? Is there a level of the kinematic chain from the head to the foot at which the impairment is more severe? Is the deficit related to the general slowness of movement in Parkinson's disease?

Methods: Kinematic data were recorded.

Forward versus backward oriented stepping movements in Parkinsonian patients.

The primary purpose of this paper was to compare the effect of reversing the direction of step initiation in Parkinson's disease. Forward (FDS) and backward (BDS) oriented stepping initiation analyses were conducted on combined kinematic and kinetic data recorded on Parkinsonian patients (PD) and healthy age-matched subjects. Two successive phases were examined: a postural phase from T1 (onset of the center of pressure [CP] displacement) to T2 (onset of the malleolus displacement), which was followed by a stepping phase from T2 to T3 (end of the malleolus displacement; i.

Lateral leg raising in patients with Parkinson's disease: influence of equilibrium constraint.

Patients with Parkinson's disease often have difficulty maintaining postural stability. This impairment is attributed to postural adjustment deficits. We studied the postural adjustments associated with the performance of two complex tasks which differed only in the final equilibrium constraints.

Axial synergies in parkinsonian patients during voluntary trunk bending.

During upper trunk movements, the axial kinematic synergies (opposite movements of upper and lower segments) preserve the balance by minimizing the antero-posterior center of gravity (CG) shift due to the movement. Forward and backward upper trunk movements were analyzed in a population of parkinsonian patients (PD) that were subject to falling, in order to determine whether an impaired control of the kinematic synergies might explain the falling. Ten PD (stage III-IV of the Hoehn and Yahr classification; Hoehn MM, Yahr MD.

Organization of lateral balance control in toddlers during the first year of independent walking.

The authors of the present study tested the hypothesis that toddlers initiate lateral body stabilization first at the hip level in order to better control the center of gravity (CG), minimize the upper body destabilization induced by the movement of the feet, and prevent falls. Intersegmental coordination among the hip, the shoulder, and the head was investigated in toddlers during their 1st year of independent walking. The efficiency of locomotor balance control was examined in the frontal plane.