Influence of virtual reality height exposure on cognitive load and visual processing during balance beam walking
Balance is a critical component of many activities of daily living and sports. Effective balance control relies on the input from multiple sensory systems, such as proprioceptive information about one’s body position and visual cues from the surrounding environment. Balance can be impacted by voluntary gait changes, orthopedic conditions, neurological impairments, and aging. Conclusions for how balance varies during dynamic tasks have primarily been determined through low-variability tasks that may not offer adequate challenges for healthy individuals. Beam-walking has been proposed as a more effective and direct measure of dynamic balance for both healthy and diseased populations. Balance beam parameters such as length, width, and height can be altered to introduce various challenges for a wide range of individuals. In response to height exposure during beam walking, individuals tend to display cautious gait patterns and limited visual exploration of the surrounding environment. Likewise, cortical activity has been shown to fluctuate during balance tasks and during the initial stages of falling and balance recovery. Head mounted displays, or immersive virtual reality (VR), allow individuals to experience a cognitive sense of presence similar to that experienced in a real environment, without the immediate risk of injury or danger. VR environments have been shown to induce physiological stress responses (i.e. elevated heart rate) that mirror those observed in real life situations. Thus, the purpose of this study is to observe how virtual reality height exposure induces stress and impacts balance performance, cognitive load, and visual processing while beam walking. 20 healthy young adults will be recruited for participation and will complete a series of walking tasks on a balance beam walkway with and without a head mounted VR device. The headset will be equipped with eye tracking technology to collect gaze behavior data. 3D motion capture will be used to evaluate balance performance. Non-invasive EEG will be used to record brain activity and a pulse oximeter will be used to monitor and record heart rate data.
Investigation of neuromuscular control and decision-making capability on the prevalence of lower extremity injury in mTBI
The purpose of this study is to compare neuromuscular control and decision-making capability with the prevalence of lower extremity injury in traumatic brain injury (i.e., concussion). We hypothesize that poor decision making will have a positive correlation with incidence of injuries, and that there will be an increase in corticomuscular coherence between the primary motor cortex and the respective lower extremity muscles in concussed participants, as means of compensating for structural damages. In addition to that, we anticipate that differentiated (concussed; healthy, i.e., non-concussed) corticomuscular coherence will be predictors of lower extremity injury.
A total of 80 concussed and healthy (non-concussed) participants are expected to enroll in the study. They will be divided into four groups, according to their concussion and injury history.This study will use electromyography to measure muscle activity of the legs, electroencephalography to measure brain activity, and a set of decision-making paradigms as a probable co-variate of incidence of injury. In order to assess neuromuscular control of the lower extremities, participants will have their balance challenged by virtual-reality induced optical flow.
Neural Activity and Oculomotor Trends in Individuals with mTBI
Background: Traumatic brain injury (TBI) and the associated concussion are major causes of defects in the primary vision and an increase in work during visual tasks. These impairments include decreases in visual acuity, defects in visual fields, and impairments in eye movement including vergence, saccadic, and smooth pursuit movements. Evidence has shown that individuals who experience an mTBI and/or concussion demonstrate eye movements specific to the brain injury that occurred. This study is designed to observe brain oxidation activity trends during these visual tracking tasks and identify correlations between frontal lobe oxidation and eye-tracking.
Purpose: To investigate the effect of head injury on brain activity trends in relation to eye movement patterns during eye-tracking tasks in comparison to healthy individuals. To answer the question “How do concussions and mTBIs effect brain activity-associated oxidation within the frontal lobe, during visual tracking tasks?”.
Subjects: Participants over the age of 18 years, separated into two groups: Healthy Control and mTBI. The healthy control group will include individuals with no history of brain injury within the past 1 year. The experimental group will include individuals who have or have had an mTBI or concussion currently or within the past 1 year.
The exclusion criteria is anyone under the age of 18.
Procedures: Participants will perform one set of visual tracking tasks using the RightEye eye tracking system to assess eye movement during pursuit, reaction, fixation, and discrimination tasks. The participant will be required to wear one of to potential data collection devices. Either the fNIRS (Functional Near-Infrared Spectroscopy) system will be used to record brain oxidation activity via 16 optodes on a headband and the data will be collected through the COBI Studio software and will be processed and analyzed using fNIRSoft software, or a dry EEG cap will be used to record electrical brain activity and will be collected through the manufacturer’s software.
Outcomes and Significance: The ultimate goal of this research study is to identify relationships between brain injury and increased brain activity during visual tracking tasks. By observing frontal lobe oxidation levels during ocular tracking tasks, we will be able to identify potential associations between increased brain activity and these tasks in individuals with brain injury.
Enhanced Sensorimotor Kinematics Of The Baseball Swing In Elite Batters
Baseball batting requires temporal and spatial precision through effective pitch tracking strategies and swing mechanics to achieve success. In this study, temporal analysis and the measurement of sensorimotor factors indicative of skill was completed in different pitch conditions to understand the changes that occur in various batting conditions. Sixteen adult baseball batters were divided into elite and sub-elite groups. Each subject completed 20 totals trials across a known fastball, known curveball, and unknown pitch conditions. 3D motion capture and eye tracking glasses collected full body and eye motion data. Results demonstrated significant differences in head rotation, average head angular velocity, pelvis rotation, and load-release difference between the known and unknown conditions, significant differences in the load phase, land phase, and total swing durations, as well as the load-release difference between elite and sub-elite batters, along with a significant interaction between skill level and pelvis rotation for pitch condition (p < 0.05). Relationships were found between eye and head rotation with pelvis and swing phase kinematics for both the elite and sub-elite groups (p < 0.05). Reaching the load point of the swing earlier allows more time to visually track the pitch and is likely associated with greater success.
Neurological Evidence of Quiet Eye in Expert and Novice Golfers
Quiet Eye (QE) is a steady visual fixation on a target that aids in the organization of motor plans for an upcoming task. A visual fixation is defined as being at least 100 milliseconds and less than 3 degrees of visual angle. Visual fixation allows the brain to process information from visual cues and use the oculomotor system to produce the desired motor response. The QE period occurs in the time between the last visual fixation on a target to the beginning of the motor response. Sports studies have concluded that experts have a longer QE period than novices. Also associated with a longer quiet eye duration is less left hemisphere brain activity. Expert athletes in target sports appear to have less left hemisphere brain activity than novices. The purpose of this study was to determine the brain mechanisms involved when an expert golfer has a steady quiet eye.