Van Hedel

Fakultäten » Medizinische Fakultät » Kinderspital Zürich: Medizinische Klinik » Rehabilitationszentrum » PD Dr. Hubertus Van Hedel » Van Hedel

Completed research project

Title / Titel	Human gaze control during walking over obstacles
PDF	Abstract (PDF, 14 KB)
Summary / Zusammenfassung	This cooperative project centers on the working hypothesis that eye and head (= gaze) movement signals help postural stabilization. We ask whether this principle can be extended to the control of balance during walking over obstacles and how gaze movements and locomotion interact. If gaze signals are indeed used for postural stabilization, gaze movements towards unexpectedly appearing visual targets will influence body balance. This gaze-elicited destabilization may take place when walking over irregularly approaching obstacles, which requires gaze redirection. We analyze the strategy of human gaze control to optimize both obstacle localization and postural balance during obstacle walking, healthy young and elderly subjects, as well as patients with movement disorders.
Keywords / Suchbegriffe	control of balance, locomotion, postural stabilization
Project leadership and contacts / Projektleitung und Kontakte	PD Dr. Hubertus Van Hedel (Project Leader) hvanhedel@paralab.balgrist.ch Sandra Keller Chandra skeller@paralab.balgrist.ch
Funding source(s) / Unterstützt durch	Others
In collaboration with / In Zusammenarbeit mit	Prof. Dr. Dominik Straumann Dr. Dr. Christopher J. Bockisch Dr. Stefan Hegemann Prof. em. Dr. Volker Dietz
Duration of Project / Projektdauer	Jan 2007 to Apr 2011