People with Parkinson’s Disease Are Able to Couple Eye Movements and Postural Sway to Improve Stability

Considering that people with Parkinson’s disease (PD) experience challenges in the control of both balance and eye movements, this study investigated the effects of saccadic eye movements on body sway in people with PD in two bases of support positions (side-by-side and tandem stances). Ten people w...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores: Barbieri, Fabio Augusto [UNESP], Polastri, Paula Favaro [UNESP], Barela, José Angelo [UNESP], Bonnet, Cédrick T., Brito, Matheus Belizario [UNESP], Rodrigues, Sergio Tosi [UNESP]
Tipo de recurso: artículo
Estado:Versión publicada
Fecha de publicación:2024
País:Brasil
Institución:Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP)
Repositorio:Repositório Institucional da UNESP
Idioma:inglés
OAI Identifier:oai:repositorio.unesp.br:11449/304871
Acceso en línea:http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/biomechanics4030032
https://hdl.handle.net/11449/304871
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palabra clave:body sway
gaze
Parkinson’s disease
posture
saccadic eye movements
Descripción
Sumario:Considering that people with Parkinson’s disease (PD) experience challenges in the control of both balance and eye movements, this study investigated the effects of saccadic eye movements on body sway in people with PD in two bases of support positions (side-by-side and tandem stances). Ten people with PD and 11 healthy individuals performed (a) fixation; (b) horizontal saccadic eye movements to the right and left; and (c) vertical saccadic eye movements up and down. The protocol for each postural task consisted of one block of six trials, making a total of 12 trials. Body sway and gaze parameters were measured during the trials. In both people with PD and healthy individuals, anterior–posterior body sway was significantly reduced in horizontal saccadic eye movements in contrast to fixation, regardless of the body position (side-by-side and tandem stances). Furthermore, vertical saccadic eye movements increased the area of sway in contrast to horizontal ones (and not to fixation) in people with PD. In addition, people with PD showed a higher number of fixations in all experimental conditions, without changes in the mean duration of fixations in both body positions. In conclusion, individuals with PD can improve body sway by coupling eye movements and postural sway when performing horizontal saccadic eye movements but not when performing vertical saccadic eye movements.