Visual feedback training improves postural adjustments associated with moving obstacle avoidance in elderly women

The study examined the impact of visually guided weight shifting (WS) practice on the postural adjustments evoked by elderly women when avoiding collision with a moving obstacle while standing. Fifty-six healthy elderly women (70.9 +/- 5.7 years, 87.5 +/- 9.6 kg) were randomly assigned into one of three groups: a group that completed 12 sessions (25 min, 3 s/week) of WS practice in the Anterior/Posterior direction (A/P group, n = 20), a group that performed the same practice in the medio/lateral direction (M/L group, n = 20) and a control group (n = 16). Pre- and post-training, participants were tested in a moving obstacle avoidance task. As a result of practice, postural response onset shifted closer to the time of collision with the obstacle. Side-to-side WS resulted in a reduction of the M/L sway amplitude and an increase of the trunk's velocity during avoidance. It is concluded that visually guided WS practice enhances elderly's ability for on-line visuo-motor processing when avoiding collision eliminating reliance on anticipatory scaling. Specifying the direction of WS seems to be critical for optimizing the transfer of training adaptations. (c) 2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.