Abstract

The visual system is part of the nervous system that enables an individual to scan their environment and assess distance to and from objects. The information captured form our navigating environment is communicated to the brain, which in turn makes the decision on how we respond to spatial orientation. This is particularly useful in helping with balance and determining direction of movement. Our posture and visual stability rely heavily on an efficient and processing of visual, vestibular, and proprioception afferent input. Erroneous sensory information from defective sensory organs may cause a person to experience feelings of lightheadedness, spinning and whirling sensations, and difficulty in maintaining straight posture. Few studies have examined the synergy between cervical spine proprioception and the vestibular ocular reflex (VOR) and as such, their impact on human VOR is less understood. The purpose of this study therefore was to investigate how motion sensitivity is impacted by neck muscle fatigue in normal healthy participants. The overall aim of the present work was to investigate whether impaired somatosensory information from the cervical spine, caused by neck muscle fatigue, would negatively impact postural stability in healthy young participants. Results indicated that healthy young participants who were fatigued had significantly poorer postural stability than those who were not fatigued (p< 0.001). In Conclusion, our research suggests that when assessing motion sensitivity in patients complaining of dizziness with a history of neck trauma, one may consider that VOR dysfunction could have a cervical origin due to somatosensory disturbance, which may lead to poor postural stability.

LLU Discipline

Physical Therapy

Department

Physical Therapy

School

School of Allied Health Professions

First Advisor

Johnson, Eric

Second Advisor

Bahjri, Khalid

Third Advisor

Landel, Robert

Fourth Advisor

Lohman, Everett B., III

Degree Name

Doctor of Science (DSc)

Degree Level

D.Sc.

Year Degree Awarded

2015

Date (Title Page)

6-2015

Language

English

Library of Congress/MESH Subject Headings

Muscle - Skeletal; Muscle Fatigue; Postural Balance; Posture; Reflex - Vestibular-Ocular; Vertebrobasilar Insufficiency

Subject - Local

Spatial orientation; Visual Stability; Proprioception Afferent Input; Cervical Spine Proprioception;

Type

Dissertation

Page Count

72

Digital Format

PDF

Digital Publisher

Loma Linda University Libraries

Usage Rights

This title appears here courtesy of the author, who has granted Loma Linda University a limited, non-exclusive right to make this publication available to the public. The author retains all other copyrights.

Collection

Loma Linda University Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Collection Website

http://scholarsrepository.llu.edu/etd/

Repository

Loma Linda University. Del E. Webb Memorial Library. University Archives

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