To investigate the long-term effect of blindness on the task of leaping down to a lower landing surface, five blind individuals were compared with 10 sighted individuals who performed landing movements with and without sight. Participants performed six consecutive drop-landings from four different heights, during which the prelanding modulation of EMG timing and amplitude in four lower-limb muscles were recorded. Analysis showed that blind individuals showed specific prelanding EMG modulation, suggesting that long-term dependence on somesthetic and vestibular cues leads to different preparatory measures for vertical falls.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
CohenL. G.CelnikP.Pascual-LeoneA.CorwellB.FalzL.DambrosiaJ.HondaM.SadatoN.GerloffC.CatalaM. D.HallettM. (1997) Functional relevance of cross-modal plasticity in blind humans. Nature, 389, 180–183.
2.
DuncanA.McDonaghM. J. (2000) Stretch reflex distinguished from pre-programmed muscle activations following landing impacts in man. The Journal of Physiology, 526(Pt. 2), 457–468.
3.
Dyhre-PoulsenP.LaursenA. M. (1984) Programmed electromyographic activity and negative incremental muscle stiffness in monkeys jumping downward. The Journal of Physiology, 350, 121–136.
4.
GoldreichD.KanicsI. M. (2003) Tactile acuity is enhanced in blindness. Journal of Neuroscience, 23, 3439–3445.
5.
LiebermannD. G.GoodmanD. (1991) Effects of visual guidance on the reduction of impacts during landings. Ergonomics, 34, 1399–1406.
6.
LiebermannD. G.GoodmanD. (2007) Pre-landing muscle timing and post-landing effects of falling with continuous vision and in blindfold conditions. Journal of Electromyography and Kinesiology, 17, 212–227.
7.
LiebermannD. G.HoffmanJ. R. (2005) Timing of preparatory landing responses as a function of availability of optic flow information. Journal of Electromyography and Kinesiology, 15, 120–130.
8.
MagalhãesF. H.GorosoD. G. (2009) Preparatory EMG activity reveals a rapid adaptation pattern in humans performing landing movements in blindfolded condition. Perceptual and Motor Skills, 109, 500–516.
9.
MagalhãesF. H.KohnA. F. (2011) Vibration-enhanced posture stabilization achieved by tactile supplementation: May blind individuals get extra benefits?Medical Hypotheses, 77, 301–304.
10.
McKinleyP. A.SmithJ. L.GregorR. J. (1983) Responses of elbow extensors to landing forces during jump downs in cats. Experimental Brain Research, 49, 218–228.
11.
RainoldiA.MelchiorriG.CarusoI. (2004) A method for positioning electrodes during surface EMG recordings in lower limb muscles. Journal of Neuroscience Methods, 134, 37–43.
12.
RougierP.FarencI. (2000) Adaptative effects of loss of vision on upright undisturbed stance. Brain Research, 871, 165–174.
13.
SantelloM.McDonaghM. J. (1998) The control of timing and amplitude of EMG activity in landing movements in humans. Experimental Physiology, 83, 857–874.
14.
SantelloM.McDonaghM. J.ChallisJ. H. (2001) Visual and non-visual control of landing movements in humans. The Journal of Physiology, 537, 313–327.
15.
SheskinD. J. (2007) Handbook of parametric and nonparametric statistical procedures. Boca Raton, FL: Chapman & Hall/CRC Press.
16.
TabachnickB. G.FidellL. S. (2007) Using multivariate statistics. Boston: Pearson Education.
17.
ThompsonH. W.McKinleyP. A. (1995) Landing from a jump: The role of vision when landing from known and unknown heights. NeuroReport, 6, 581–584.
18.
VidalP. P.LacourM.BerthozA. (1979) Contribution of vision to muscle responses in monkey during free-fall: Visual stabilization decreases vestibular dependent responses. Experimental Brain Research, 37, 241–252.
