Visual proprioception in infant postural development
Visual proprioception in infant postural development
The technique of visual-mechanical proprioceptive conflict induced by movement of the visual surround in a `moving room' apparatus, was used to show that vision has a proprioceptive function in babies at least as early as the second month of life. Very young infants rely on a stable visual surround to maintain head control while in a supported upright sitting position. Thus, independent locomotion is not a prerequisite for the proprioceptive function of vision, since these infants were unable to crawl. The findings may also provide evidence against the notion of early infant-environment adualism in the development of space perception. Postural compensation to the discrepant visual information, of both head and sitting postures was found to decrease as the infants gained independent locomotion by crawling, suggesting that there is a close relationship in development between calibration of static and dynamic postures, and also between calibration of stable head and sitting postures. It is suggested that calibration of a static posture might occur with the onset and experience of the subsequent dynamic posture. In relation to the development of voluntary control over posture, there may be an embedding of regulatory processes that depends on innate pre-structured visual feedback which is itself inherent in the relationship between the self and the stable visual world. The mechanisms involved were studied in standing infants. They were shown to be sensitive to peripheral visual information specifying self-movement; moving visual information in the central visual field did not give rise to postural compensation. The findings indicate that peripheral vision is important in the maintenance of postural control in recently standing infants. However, with additional experience of the standing posture, there may be a shift to greater use of focal visual information in maintaining postural stability, as shown by their reliance upon stable landmarks in the centre of vision.
University of Southampton
1984
Pope, Michael John
(1984)
Visual proprioception in infant postural development.
University of Southampton, Doctoral Thesis.
Record type:
Thesis
(Doctoral)
Abstract
The technique of visual-mechanical proprioceptive conflict induced by movement of the visual surround in a `moving room' apparatus, was used to show that vision has a proprioceptive function in babies at least as early as the second month of life. Very young infants rely on a stable visual surround to maintain head control while in a supported upright sitting position. Thus, independent locomotion is not a prerequisite for the proprioceptive function of vision, since these infants were unable to crawl. The findings may also provide evidence against the notion of early infant-environment adualism in the development of space perception. Postural compensation to the discrepant visual information, of both head and sitting postures was found to decrease as the infants gained independent locomotion by crawling, suggesting that there is a close relationship in development between calibration of static and dynamic postures, and also between calibration of stable head and sitting postures. It is suggested that calibration of a static posture might occur with the onset and experience of the subsequent dynamic posture. In relation to the development of voluntary control over posture, there may be an embedding of regulatory processes that depends on innate pre-structured visual feedback which is itself inherent in the relationship between the self and the stable visual world. The mechanisms involved were studied in standing infants. They were shown to be sensitive to peripheral visual information specifying self-movement; moving visual information in the central visual field did not give rise to postural compensation. The findings indicate that peripheral vision is important in the maintenance of postural control in recently standing infants. However, with additional experience of the standing posture, there may be a shift to greater use of focal visual information in maintaining postural stability, as shown by their reliance upon stable landmarks in the centre of vision.
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Published date: 1984
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Local EPrints ID: 460939
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/460939
PURE UUID: c06e0a4d-a20d-4492-812a-d97c7cd6dd05
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Date deposited: 04 Jul 2022 18:32
Last modified: 04 Jul 2022 18:32
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Author:
Michael John Pope
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