Age-related changes in visual guidance strategies

描述（由申请人提供）：随着年龄的增长，视觉功能的下降最近与老年人的功能活动性下降和跌倒风险增加有关。尽管有这些知识，我们对老年人如何使用视觉输入来应对具有挑战性的地形，表面和路径知之甚少。被障碍物、路缘或台阶绊倒占老年人福尔斯跌倒的很大比例，可能与视觉输入不足或异常有关。本研究的目的是探讨年轻人和老年人在通过障碍物、台阶和楼梯时，视觉注视模式和视觉输入要求的年龄相关差异。眼动追踪技术将用于监测受试者在不同地形上走动时相对于环境场景的精确凝视位置。液晶显示眼镜将被用来选择性地控制视觉输入主体在每个运动任务的关键阶段接收，同时测量任务性能的生物力学。由于在许多生理系统中的轻微递减的累积效应，据推测，老年人将比年轻人更依赖于视觉输入，以保持他们的平衡，在日常生活的运动活动。预计这项工作将为健康老年人的视觉引导运动提供深入了解，并为未来的工作提供基础，旨在研究视力低下，认知障碍或其他感觉丧失的老年人在运动过程中使用的视觉策略。这项工作的结果可能对环境改造，视觉康复训练策略，辅助设备设计和老年人跌倒预防的临床相关性产生影响。了解老年人选择在何时何地观看环境中的关键物体以及他们需要在何时何地观看以安全地通过障碍物、台阶和楼梯之间的差异，将为我们创建新的培训计划和更好的环境设计提供基础，以减少福尔斯的风险。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Declines in visual function with age have recently been linked to decrements in functional mobility and an increased risk of falling in older adults. Despite this knowledge, we know very little about how older adults use visual input to negotiate challenging terrain, surfaces and pathways. Tripping over obstacles, curbs or steps accounts for a large proportion of falls in older adults, and may be linked to inadequate or aberrant visual input. The purpose of this study is to examine the age-related differences in visual gaze patterns and visual input requirements as young and older adults negotiate obstacles, steps and stairs. Eye-tracking technology will be used to monitor precise gaze location with respect to the environmental scene as the subject ambulates over varied terrain. Liquid crystal display glasses will be used to selectively control the visual input subjects receive during key phases of each locomotor task while simultaneously measuring the biomechanics of task performance. Due to the cumulative effects of minor decrements in numerous physiologic systems, it is hypothesized that older adults will be more dependent upon visual input than young adults in order to maintain their balance during locomotor activities of daily living. It is anticipated that this work will provide insight into visually guided locomotion in healthy older adults, and provide the foundation for future work aimed at examining the visual strategies used during locomotion in older adults with low vision, coginitive impairment or other sensory loss. Results from this work could have implications for environmental modifications, visual rehabilitation training strategies, assistive device design and clinical relevance to fall prevention in the elderly. Understanding the differences between when and where older adults choose to look at key objects in their environment and when and where they need to look in order to safely navigate obstacles, steps and stairs will provide us with the foundation create new training programs and better environmental design to reduce the risk of falls.