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A Sense of Balance - Sensorimotor Function in Reacting to Recover Balance

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A Sense of Balance - Sensorimotor Function in Reacting to Recover Balance

A Sense of Balance - Sensorimotor Function in Reacting to Recover Balance

CA$20.00
This course includes
Lifetime access after purchase
Certificate of completion
The instructors
This course was recorded in April 2024

Overview

Join Dr. Zettel and the Neuroscience Division of the Canadian Physiotherapy Association (CPA) for this on-demand course: 'A Sense of Balance - Sensorimotor Function in Reacting to Recover Balance.' 
 
This course examines the important systems contributing to balance control, such as the visual, vestibular, and sensorimotor system, and emphasizes their contribution to reactive balance. Participants will learn how these systems interact and influence balance recovery and fall prevention. A key area covered includes protocols that research sensory contributions to balance, such as support-surface perturbations, slips, and trips, which provoke natural balance reactions. These exercises illustrate how external and internal perturbations challenge the body’s stability and trigger reflexive responses, revealing the complexity and significance of sensorimotor latency and rapid, forceful adjustments.
 

Participants will also learn to evaluate balance through measurable outcomes, such as center-of-mass (COM) and center-of-pressure (COP) dynamics, base-of-support (BOS) adjustments, and margins of stability. Through this knowledge, clinicians, therapists, and researchers will be able to improve their ability to critically assess balance research and apply sensorimotor insights to optimize interventions for balance impairments, ultimately aiming to reduce fall risks in various populations.

The course also dives into each sensory system's unique role in balance. Vision is discussed in terms of redundancy and reweighting, demonstrating how visual information stabilizes balance even when other senses, like proprioception or vestibular, are compromised. Learners will explore how vision functions in both feedback (reacting to changes) and feedforward (anticipating changes) processes, with research on vision blocking, sensory masking, and visual flow anchoring.
 
Vestibular contributions are analyzed using techniques such as galvanic vestibular stimulation (GVS), which alters postural sense by creating the perception of a lean. Using GVS, participants will learn about vestibular manipulation and head-orientation effects, especially in older adults who may avoid head turns that impair vestibular processing.
 
Finally, the course evaluates balance-recovery testing protocols, emphasizing their relevance and limitations in clinical and real-world applications. By studying reactive balance, such as feet-in-place (FIP) recovery and step-recovery, the course illustrates the various balance responses and preparatory actions that impact stability. Participants will learn about complex responses, such as internal perturbations (step width adjustments and anticipatory postural adjustments), which highlight the subtle yet powerful adjustments required for successful balance recovery.
 
This comprehensive course equips clinicians, researchers, and healthcare students with the tools needed to interpret balance recovery research critically. By understanding the interaction between sensory inputs and reactive balance, participants will be better prepared to assess, intervene, and ultimately improve balance control in their respective fields.
 

Learning Objectives

In this online course, we will:

  1. Understand common research paradigms for investigating sensory contributions to reactive balance control
  2. Further an understanding of how visual, vestibular and somatosensory feedback regulate balance reactions based on recent research
  3. Develop a basis for critically evaluating balance research


Audience

This online course is for:

  • Physiotherapists
  • Occupational therapists
  • Kinesiologists
  • Rehabilitation professionals
  • Researchers interested in neuroscience and balance control
  • Students in health sciences
 

Speaker Bio

Dr. Zettel, Embodia Instructor

Dr. Zettel is a professor at the University of Guelph in the department of Human Health & Nutritional Science.  His research in human movement control focuses on sensorimotor function in balance,  including the coordination of balance reactions in recovering postural stability and avoiding falls.   

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The instructors
Neurosciences Division

Welcome to the Neurosciences Division (NSD), a not-for-profit division of the Canadian Physiotherapy Association (CPA).

We are a national organization operated by volunteers with a passion for neurological physiotherapy. We connect physiotherapists working in neurological settings to learning opportunities and a community of colleagues across the country.

The Neurosciences Division (NSD) is a not-for-profit, volunteer-driven division of the Canadian Physiotherapy Association (CPA).

Our Aim is to assist neuroscience physiotherapists and physiotherapy assistants in enabling their clients to reach their full potential and participation in their communities through assessment, treatment, assistance, consultation, education, and research.

Canadian Physiotherapy Association

As the vital partner for the profession, the Canadian Physiotherapy Association (CPA) leads, advocates, and inspires excellence and innovation to promote health. CPA’s goal is to provide exceptional service, valuable information and connections to the profession of physiotherapy, across Canada and around the world.
Material included in this course
  • A Sense of Balance - Sensorimotor Function in Reacting to Recover Balance
  • Welcome!
  • Slides
  • Introduction (3:37)
  • How to Evaluate Balance?
  • Determining Sensory Contributions
  • Vestibular Manipulation: GVS
  • Summary
  • Questions
  • Translation to practice
  • Feedback
Patient exercises included in this course
  • Single Leg Stance with Eyes Closed - Unstable Surface
  • Tandem Stance with Eyes Closed
  • Gait with Balance Challenge (Side Steps)
  • Gait with Balance Challenge (Backward Walking)
  • Gait with Balance Challenge (Tandem Walking)
  • Standing with Feet Together
  • Single Leg Stance
  • Tandem Stance Progressions
  • Tandem Stance
FAQs

As part of our partnership with the CPA, we offer its members discounts on courses and Embodia Memberships. Learn more about the partnership on this page.

In order for the discount to be applied, you first need to authenticate your CPA membership. This is an important step as this is how Embodia 'knows' that you are a CPA member. 
 
To authenticate as a CPA member, you need to sign in the CPA portal on this page, sign in to your CPA account, and then click the button on the page. 
 
Please note that your email address on your CPA account must match your email address on Embodia. If needed, you can update your information on Embodia as outlined in this guide.
 


Once you have completed the course, a certificate of completion (including learning hours and course information) will be generated. You can download this certificate at any time. To learn more about course certificates on Embodia please visit this guide.

Yes, exercises included in courses or resource packages on Embodia can be prescribed directly through the Embodia platform. A Tier 2 or 3 Membership is required to prescribe exercises. These memberships include a range of other features. You can learn about home exercise programs (HEP) on Embodia here, and about memberships on Embodia here.

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