Locomotion and Posture in Older Adults

Fabio Augusto Barbieri: Assistant professor at the Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP) - Faculty of Sciences - Department of Physical Education (Bauru, Brazil) and professor of the graduate program in Human Motor Sciences at the UNESP. Physical Education degree (2004) and master degree in Human Motor Sciences (2007) by the UNESP. PhD in Human Motor Sciences by the UNESP (2012) and PhD in Human Movement Science by the Vrije University (Amsterdam, the Netherlands – 2013). Postdoctoral fellowship in Physical Education at the UNESP (2015). Main research interests are aimed at understanding the biomechanics and motor control of human movement, mainly walking and posture, in healthy individuals and people with neurodegenerative disorders such as Parkinson disease.Rodrigo Vitório: Postdoctoral Fellow and professor of the graduate program in Human Movement Science at Universidade Estadual Paulista – UNESP (Rio Claro, Brazil). Bachelor in Physical Education (2006), Master of Science (2009) and Ph.D. (2015) in Human Movement Science. Has worked as Research Assistant at the Movement Disorders Research and Rehabilitation Centre at Wilfrid Laurier University (Waterloo, Canada – 2013). Main research interests are focused on (i) how visual information is used for the control of locomotion in patients with Parkinson’s disease; (ii) how Parkinson’s disease and its progression affect the ability to avoid obstacles while walking; (iii) the prediction of falls in patients with Parkinson’s disease and older adults.

Part I. Background concepts to motor control in aging and movement disorders.- Chapter 1. Complex systems approach to the study of posture and locomotion in older people.- Chapter 2. Clinical aspects of movement disorders: effects on walking and posture.- Chapter 3. Neuropsychological aspects of movement disorders.- Part II. Walking.- Chapter 4. Stability on walking in neurological healthy individuals.- Chapter 5. Visual control of adaptive locomotion and changes due to natural ageing. - Chapter 6. The walking ability in healthy older adults: The role of aging and physical activity and its interface with agility, balance, cognition and risk of falls.- Chapter 7. Cognition, gait disorders and fall risk in healthy neurological older individuals.- Chapter 8. Visual control of locomotion in people with Parkinson's disease.- Chapter 9. Gait disturbances in movement disorders: a motor-cognitive problem.- Chapter 10. The influence of muscle fatigue on walking during aging and in individuals with movement disorders.- Chapter 11. Parkinson disease and gait asymmetry.- Chapter 12. Effects of physical activity on walking in individuals with movement disorders.- Part III. Posture.- Chapter 13. Older adults are incapable of changing sensory-motor coupling during upright stance with visual manipulation and different attentional demands.- Chapter 14. Contribution of fingertip light touch on postural stabilization of older adults.- Chapter 15. Effects of vision on postural control in neurological healthy individuals. Chapter 16. Balance control in older adults.- Chapter 17. Association between fall risk and postural instability in the elderly.- Chapter 18. Exercise to maximize postural control and reduce the risk of falls in older age.- Chapter 19. The role of aging and movement disorders on postural control asymmetry.- Chapter 20. Postural control and somatosensory information: effects of aging and Parkinson's disease.- Chapter 21. Exercise and balance in older adults withmovement disorders.- Part IV. Technology and rehabilitation applied to locomotion and posture.- Chapter 22. Gait initiation in the elderly: concepts, clinical implications and methodology.- Chapter 23. Contribution of virtual reality (Nintendo WII) for exercise training and rehabilitation.- Chapter 24. Deep brain stimulation in Parkinson's disease: effects on gait and postural control.- Chapter 25. Using virtual reality to advance the understanding and rehabilitation of gait impairments in Parkinson's disease.- Chapter 26. The applicability of inertial motion sensors for locomotion and posture.- Chapter 27. Age-related changes in the neural control of standing balance.

"Given the morbidity and mortality that accompany gait dysfunction, this is an important book for anyone caring for an individual with locomotion or postural disorders. ... The audience is anyone with an interest in posture and gait research or therapeutic interventions, from students to researchers to clinicians, who can take the information presented in the book and apply it to daily practice." (Lauren Vernese, Doody's Book Reviews, January, 2018)

“Given the morbidity and mortality that accompany gait dysfunction, this is an important book for anyone caring for an individual with locomotion or postural disorders. … The audience is anyone with an interest in posture and gait research or therapeutic interventions, from students to researchers to clinicians, who can take the information presented in the book and apply it to daily practice.” (Lauren Vernese, Doody's Book Reviews, January, 2018)