Because both PD and VP show
postural reflex disturbances, small-stepped gait and little kick-off power on walking may represent acquired gait pattern for defensive posture and prevention of falling.
The development of the pups' motor activity may be evaluated by
postural reflex. When testing this reflex, the offspring of the rats in Group 3 responded faster than those in Group 2, or rather, their
postural reflex was 46.7% more developed when compared to that of Group 2 pups, albeit with no statistical difference.
Oppositely, oscillations <0.6 Hz are related to a slow center of mass (COM) drift rather than to
postural reflexes. When compared to fluctuations at higher frequency range, these fluctuations are often of higher amplitude and because of it, they mask proper reflexes of the posture control.
"It interrupts the
postural reflexes that are key to maintaining balance so a patient can't make the corrections necessary to prevent a fall," Dr.
Loss of
postural reflexes leads to backward falls (retropulsion) or forward falls (propulsion) without cause.
It is assumed that, in PD patients, reaching movement is limited by decreased movement of the upper limbs due to akinesia or bradykinesia, decreased flexibility due to rigidity of the four limbs and trunk, and the impairment of
postural reflexes associated with these decreases.
The system will include human-like vestibular and visual sensory systems, to allow for supraspinal
postural reflexes. The behaviour-based control architecture will be combined with novel learning schemes and prediction strategies in which biomechanical, neuromotor and cognitive key features of human walking are transferred to the machine.
PD is characterized by resting tremors, bradykinesia (slowness of voluntary movement), rigidity, and a loss of
postural reflexes. Patients with PD typically have a flat, expressionless face and walk with a stooped gait characterized by small steps.
