The characteristics of the weight shift task

Abstract

[Purpose] The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of the amplitude and velocity on the weight shift task. [Subjects] Six healthy young adults participated. [Method] The visually-guided weight shift task was performed on one force platform. Motor directions were the anteroposterior and mediolateral directions, load amplitudes were 50 N and 1/3 of subject's weight, and motor frequencies were 0.1-1.0 Hz. The spatial and temporal errors were analyzed to assess the motor performance. [Results] There was no significant difference between motor directions. The spatial errors for the light weight were larger than those for the heavy weight. The temporal errors were not affected by load amplitudes and increased with increases in motor frequency. [Conclusion] During the weight shift task, spatial and temporal controls were affected by the load amplitude and the motor frequency, respectively. Balance exercise with this task should be reconsidered in clinical settings.