CONTRIBUTION OF CENTRAL AND PERIPHERAL-VISION TO THE REGULATION OF STANCE - DEVELOPMENTAL ASPECTS

Postural oscillations in 6-, 8-, and 10-year-old children were analyze d in four conditions of vision of the environment (complete vision, pe ripheral vision central vision and no-vision) and two conditions of an kle somatosensory information (normal and altered support surfaces wit h a 5-cm-thick foam). Children were more stable with than without visi on, This was observed whether children had complete or partial vision (central or peripheral). They were also more stable with the normal th an with the altered support surface. Overall, there was no effect of a ge. Beyond these well-established results, the present experiment show ed the complementary role of peripheral and central vision in the regu lation of children's posture. For the 6- and 10-year-olds, central and peripheral vision yielded similar postural stability, whereas for the 8-year-olds, central vision yielded greater postural stability than p eripheral vision. Thr analysis of postural oscillations in the medio-l ateral and antero-posterior planes showed that for the three age group s, central vision was as efficient whatever the plane. On the other ha nd, after age 6, peripheral vision was more efficient for regulating a ntero-posterior than mediolateral oscillations. The contribution of th e different sensory systems and their interaction for stabilizing post ure in children should be specifically Interpreted with regard to the operating characteristics of each sensory system at each age. (C) 1998 Academic Press.