Impact of visual biofeedback of trunk sway smoothness on motor learning during unipedal stance

Carlos Cruz-Montecinos, Antonio Cuesta-Vargas, Cristian Muñoz, Dante Flores, Joseph Ellsworth, Carlos De la Fuente, Joaquín Calatayud, Gonzalo Rivera-Lillo, Verónica Soto-Arellano, Claudio Tapia*, Xavier García-Massó

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

7 Scopus citations

Abstract

The assessment of trunk sway smoothness using an accelerometer sensor embedded in a smartphone could be a biomarker for tracking motor learning. This study aimed to determine the reliability of trunk sway smoothness and the effect of visual biofeedback of sway smoothness on motor learning in healthy people during unipedal stance training using an iPhone 5 measurement system. In the first experiment, trunk sway smoothness in the reliability group (n = 11) was assessed on two days, separated by one week. In the second, the biofeedback group (n = 12) and no-biofeedback group (n = 12) were compared during 7 days of unipedal stance test training and one more day of retention (without biofeedback). The intraclass correlation coefficient score 0.98 (0.93–0.99) showed that this method has excellent test–retest reliability. Based on the power law of practice, the biofeedback group showed greater improvement during training days (p = 0.003). Two-way mixed analysis of variance indicates a significant difference between groups (p < 0.001) and between days (p < 0.001), as well as significant interaction (p < 0.001). Post hoc analysis shows better performance in the biofeedback group from training days 2 and 7, as well as on the retention day (p < 0.001). Motor learning objectification through visual biofeedback of trunk sway smoothness enhances postural control learning and is useful and reliable for assessing motor learning.

Original languageEnglish
Article number2585
JournalSensors (Switzerland)
Volume20
Issue number9
DOIs
StatePublished - 1 May 2020

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© 2020 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.

Keywords

  • Biofeedback
  • Inertial measurement unit
  • Motor learning
  • Postural balance

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