Patterns of inter-joint coordination during a single-limb standing
Highlights
► We examined the pattern of joint-coordination in the lower limb during single-leg standing. ► We examined the effect of vision to the pattern of joint-coordination during single-leg standing. ► The axial rotation of the ankle was synchronized with the axial rotation of the hip during single-leg standing. ► The ankle inversion/eversion was synchronized with hip axial rotation too. ► Those patterns remained the same with or without visual input.
Introduction
The ability to maintain a controlled upright posture is essential for daily activities and is made possible through limited number of control strategies that have evolved over time. Although redundancies exist among various musculature and kinematical combinations, the central nervous system may simplify the control task with a limited number of muscular strategies/movement patterns to be chosen from [1]. For instance, ankle and hip strategies have been observed in a double-limb standing perturbed along the anterior–posterior axis [2], [3], [4], [5]. When an ankle synergy is evoked the torso and legs move in the same direction about the ankle joint. When a hip strategy is evoked, the torso and legs move in the opposite direction about the hip joint. Muscles involved are not activated in response to a stretch of each individual joint, rather according to a muscular synergy leading to a synergistic movement pattern [2], [6]. Control of a double-limb standing under a perturbation along the medio-lateral axis showed the coordination primarily in motions at the hip and trunk [7], [8]. Studies of muscular synergies/movement patterns can help us to better understand human postural control [9].
Movement patterns during a single-limb standing has not been studied extensively. Biomechanically when compared to double-limb standing, the base of support against lateral bending and/or axial rotation in single-limb standing significantly decreases from the distance between two feet to the width of the supporting foot. The control strategies in maintaining upright single-limb standing, presented as movement patterns, are therefore expected to be different from that in double-limb standing. Single-limb stance always presents with large multi-joint movements in the lower extremity that limits the use of posturographic analysis of center of pressure trajectory because it provides no information on movement pattern or joint-coordination. Some investigators examined movement patterns during a single-limb standing in studies of functional ankle instability [10], [11], low back pain, or knee osteoarthritis [12], [13]. Tropp and Odenrick [14] observed a central role of the ankle joint in postural corrections during a single-limb standing. Hoogvliet et al. [15] suggested that lateral foot tilting strategy (ankle supination/pronation) might be an important corrective movement for postural control during a single-limb standing. Riemann et al., [16] compared corrective actions of the trunk, ankle, knee and hip joints during a single-limb standing on different surfaces. They concluded that corrective actions on either firm or soft surfaces occurred in multiple body segments rather than a single segment. It is commonly accepted that proprioceptive deficit after an ankle sprain is an important factor in functional ankle instability. However, studies of the effect of lateral ankle ligament anesthesia on body movement during a single-leg standing have reported inconsistent findings [17], [18]. The contradictory findings may be a result of differences in assessment techniques and instrumentation used. There is a need to identify key movement patterns for balance control during a single-limb standing in order to develop a standardized assessment tool. No past studies have systematically investigated the patterns of inter-joint coordination in the lower limb during a single-limb standing. We speculate that there may exit some forms of inter-joint coordination in the lower extremity during a sing-limb standing, like in a double-limb standing. We further speculate that the inter-joint coordination, if exits, may not depend on visual feedback.
The purpose of this study was to examine movement patterns of inter-joint coordination in the lower extremity during a single-limb standing and whether such patterns remain without visual input. Three-dimensional kinematics of lower extremity was quantitatively measured in a group of healthy young adults during a single-limb standing with or without vision. An “adjusted coefficient of multiple determination (ACMD)” [19] was used to examine potential patterns of inter-joint coordination in the motions of lower extremity. ACMD analysis provides us a tool to examine continuous waveforms of the recorded kinematic data which is crucial in identifying possible movement patterns.
Section snippets
Methods
A total of eight healthy young volunteers (three males, five females, mean age of 26.4 years, mean height 1.68 m, mean body weight 69.3 kg) took part in this study after they signed the informed consent approved by the Institutional Review Board of the University of Kansas Medical Center. None of the subjects had history of severe ankle, knee, and/or hip injury, vestibular lesions or any other pathology that would impair their motor performance.
Results
Fig. 2 shows an example of recorded joint angular motion curves from one trial presented in a pair of hip IER and ankle IER (Fig. 2). A clear similarity between the two curves was visible when one of the curves was flipped. In other words, the internal rotation of the hip showed similar pattern as external rotation of the ankle, or the external rotation of the hip was similar to internal rotation of the ankle.
In EO condition moderate to good similarities were found in joint angular motions
Discussion
Unlike double-limb stance during which small body sway is found primarily in the sagittal plane, single limb stance showed the inter-joint coordination mainly in the transverse plane (e.g. ankle and hip internal/external rotations) and frontal plane (e.g. ankle inversion/eversion) in the current study. The patterns of inter-joint coordination during single limb standing, presented as synchronized motions between ankle inversion/eversion and hip axial rotation and between ankle axial rotation
Conflict of interest statement
The authors have no conflicts of interest that are directly relevant to the content of this report.
References (30)
Organization and programming of motor activity during posture control
Progress in Brain Research
(1979)- et al.
The influence of sensory information on two-component coordination during quiet stance
Gait and Posture
(2007) - et al.
A unified view of quiet and perturbed stance: simultaneous co-existing excitable modes
Neuroscience Letters
(2005) - et al.
Do anticipatory postural adjustments precede compensatory stepping reactions evoked by perturbation?
Neuroscience Letters
(1993) - et al.
Kinematic analyses of trunk stability in one leg standing for individuals with recurrent low back pain
Journal of Electromyography and Kinesiology
(2010) - et al.
Comparison of the ankle, knee,hip and trunk corrective action shown during single-leg stance on firm, foam, and multiaxial surfaces
Archives of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation
(2003) - et al.
Lateral ankle ligament anesthesia significantly alters single limb postural control
Gait and Posture
(2010) IBS recommendation on definitions of joint coordinate system of various joints for the reporting of human joint motion – part I: ankle, hip and spine
Journal of Biomechanics
(2002)- et al.
Talocrural and talocalcaneal joint kinemantics and Kinetics during stance phase of walking
Journal of Biomechanics
(1991) The relationship between transverse plane leg rotation and transverse plane motion at the knee and hip joint during normal walking
Gait and Posture
(2000)
Comparison of surface mounted markers and attachment methods in estimating tibial rotations during walking: an in vivo study
Gait and Posture
Surface movement errors in shank kinematics and knee kinetics during gait
Gait and Posture
Organization of rapid responses to postural and locomotor-like perturbations of standing man
Experimental Brain Research
Central programming of postural movements: adaptation to altered support-surface configurations
Journal of Neurophysiology
Fixed patterns of rapid postural responses among leg muscles during stance
Experimental Brain Research
Cited by (15)
Biomechanical analysis of single-leg stance using a textured balance board compared to a smooth balance board and the floor: A cross-sectional study
2021, Gait and PostureCitation Excerpt :Here, the values derived from a representative participant and it should be considered that the values were measured during double-leg stance. Control strategies of double-leg stance differ from those of single-leg stance which is characterized by an inter-joint coordination between the ankle and hip joints [3]. Moreover, the demand on the central nervous system augments during single-leg stance because of a reduced base of support compared to double-leg stance [34].
Electromyographic analysis of balance exercises in single-leg stance using different instability modalities of the forefoot and rearfoot
2018, Physical Therapy in SportCitation Excerpt :The increased mean change of sagittal knee angles for these conditions underlines this assumption. Compared to double leg-stance, the base of support against excursions is diminished from the space between two feet to the size of the supporting foot during single-leg stance (Liu et al., 2012). Corrective actions in the lower-extremity are induced by multi-joint movements when balancing on one leg either on firm or foam surfaces (Liu et al., 2012; Riemann et al., 2003).
Inter-joint coordination of posture on a seesaw device
2017, Journal of Electromyography and KinesiologyCitation Excerpt :Two Coda CX1 measurement units, which were perpendicularly placed one from each other in the laboratory, were tracking a set of miniature infra-red light emitting diodes (LED) positioned on the subjects’ left side (due to experimental constraints). Two cluster-markers sets with a fixed rectangular configuration of 4 infrared LED were fastened on the shank and the thigh in order to establish measurement frames for thigh and leg segment for subsequent digitalization procedure of accurate anatomical landmarks (Liu et al., 2012). Subjects were asked to stand in the anatomical position while the following bony landmarks were pointed with a digitizing probe and characterized by virtual markers: greater trochanter, tip of the lateral and medial femoral epicondyle, lateral and medial malleolus.
Individuals with chronic ankle instability compensate for their ankle deficits using proximal musculature to maintain reduced postural sway while kicking a ball
2015, Human Movement ScienceCitation Excerpt :The present study further shows that individuals with CAI may decrease their postural sway, in relation to the control group, potentially on account of proximal muscles (hip/spine). Previous studies have shown that patterns of inter-joint coordination standing on single-leg exhibit synchronized motions, mostly between ankle inversion/eversion and hip axial rotation (Liu et al., 2012). They also showed that these joint rotations increase or decrease simultaneously depending on the stable or less stable conditions (eyes open vs. eyes closed, respectively).
Inter-joint coordination strategies during unilateral stance 6-months following first-time lateral ankle sprain
2015, Clinical BiomechanicsCitation Excerpt :It is plausible that a decay of sensory afferents (as may occur with injury (McCollum et al., 1996; McKeon et al., 2012)), forces the adoption of strategies more appropriate for safely maintaining balance, although this may still manifest in an alteration, and deterioration, in standing postural control (Winter, 1995). The use of the ACMD statistic to establish normative similarities in 3 dimensional inter-joint coordination of lower extremity movement patterns during eyes-open and eyes-closed unilateral stances using the control group in the current study has allowed for the determination of a number of injury-affiliated alterations present in the group with a 6 month history of LAS (Liu et al., 2012). This group with a history of LAS, who reported significantly decreased function on their previously injured (involved) limb, displayed increased hip–ankle linked inter-joint coordination patterns compared to the control group in both conditions of unilateral stance.