2012 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

Priorities and thresholds of sensations to detect falls during walking - a basic examination for preventing falls

Research Project

Project/Area Number	22700695
Research Category	Grant-in-Aid for Young Scientists (B)
Allocation Type	Single-year Grants
Research Field	Applied health science
Research Institution	Akita Prefectural University
Principal Investigator	UCHIYAMA Masanobu 秋田県立大学, 総合科学教育研究センター, 准教授 (30464556)
Project Period (FY)	2010 – 2012
Keywords	加齢 / 老化 / 転倒予防 / 感覚
Research Abstract	The elderly’s fall accidents develop into secondary disabilities, including the possibility of becoming bedridden due to fall-related fracture, disuse syndrome, etc. Consequently, such accidents can prove devastating to the elderly. This study examined to obtain useful findings for preventing falls of the elderly through a basic examination to clarify the mechanisms of sensing falls. A quasi-visual stimulus of a fall (screen image projected on a head-mounted display system) did not induce participants’ movement to avoid a fall. Then a degree of contribution of the visual system on postural stability during various standing conditions was examined. The visual contribution differed with sanding conditions. The visual contribution to postural stability may slightly smaller during dynamic compared to that during a quiet or static stance.