Adolescent Awkwardness: Alterations in Temporal Control Characteristics of Posture with Maturation and the Relation to Movement Exploration
A phenomenon called adolescent awkwardness is believed to alter motor control, but underlying mechanisms remain largely unclear. Since adolescents undergo neurological and anthropometrical changes during this developmental phase, we hypothesized that adolescents control their movements less tightly...
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| Format: | Article |
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MDPI AG
2020-04-01
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| Series: | Brain Sciences |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3425/10/4/216 |
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| author | Felix Wachholz Federico Tiribello Maurice Mohr Steven van Andel Peter Federolf |
| author_facet | Felix Wachholz Federico Tiribello Maurice Mohr Steven van Andel Peter Federolf |
| author_sort | Felix Wachholz |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | A phenomenon called adolescent awkwardness is believed to alter motor control, but underlying mechanisms remain largely unclear. Since adolescents undergo neurological and anthropometrical changes during this developmental phase, we hypothesized that adolescents control their movements less tightly and use a different coordinative structure compared to adults. Moreover, we tested if emerging differences were driven by body height alterations between age groups. Using 39 reflective markers, postural movements during tandem stance with eyes open and eyes closed of 12 adolescents (height 168.1 ± 8.8 cm) and 14 adults were measured, in which 9 adults were smaller or equal than 180 cm (177.9 ± 3.0 cm) and 5 taller or equal than 190 cm (192.0 ± 2.5 cm). A principal component analysis (PCA) was used to extract the first nine principal movement components (<i>PM<sub>k</sub></i>). The contribution of each <i>PM<sub>k</sub></i> to the overall balancing movement was determined according to their relative variance share (<i>rVAR<sub>k</sub></i>) and tightness of motor control was examined using the number of times that the acceleration of each <i>PM<sub>k</sub></i> changed direction (<i>N<sub>k</sub></i>). Results in <i>rVAR<sub>k</sub></i> did not show significant differences in coordinative structure between adolescents and adults, but <i>N<sub>k</sub></i> revealed that adolescents seem to control their movements less tightly in higher-order <i>PM<sub>k</sub></i>, arguably due to slower processing times and missing automatization of postural control or potential increases in exploration. Body height was found to not cause motor control differences between age groups. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-10T20:40:17Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-a22bc5d8c34448368356ffaa22290ec7 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2076-3425 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-10T20:40:17Z |
| publishDate | 2020-04-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Brain Sciences |
| spelling | doaj.art-a22bc5d8c34448368356ffaa22290ec72023-11-19T20:47:01ZengMDPI AGBrain Sciences2076-34252020-04-0110421610.3390/brainsci10040216Adolescent Awkwardness: Alterations in Temporal Control Characteristics of Posture with Maturation and the Relation to Movement ExplorationFelix Wachholz0Federico Tiribello1Maurice Mohr2Steven van Andel3Peter Federolf4Department of Sport Science, University of Innsbruck, 6020 Innsbruck, AustriaDepartment of Sport Science, University of Innsbruck, 6020 Innsbruck, AustriaDepartment of Sport Science, University of Innsbruck, 6020 Innsbruck, AustriaDepartment of Sport Science, University of Innsbruck, 6020 Innsbruck, AustriaDepartment of Sport Science, University of Innsbruck, 6020 Innsbruck, AustriaA phenomenon called adolescent awkwardness is believed to alter motor control, but underlying mechanisms remain largely unclear. Since adolescents undergo neurological and anthropometrical changes during this developmental phase, we hypothesized that adolescents control their movements less tightly and use a different coordinative structure compared to adults. Moreover, we tested if emerging differences were driven by body height alterations between age groups. Using 39 reflective markers, postural movements during tandem stance with eyes open and eyes closed of 12 adolescents (height 168.1 ± 8.8 cm) and 14 adults were measured, in which 9 adults were smaller or equal than 180 cm (177.9 ± 3.0 cm) and 5 taller or equal than 190 cm (192.0 ± 2.5 cm). A principal component analysis (PCA) was used to extract the first nine principal movement components (<i>PM<sub>k</sub></i>). The contribution of each <i>PM<sub>k</sub></i> to the overall balancing movement was determined according to their relative variance share (<i>rVAR<sub>k</sub></i>) and tightness of motor control was examined using the number of times that the acceleration of each <i>PM<sub>k</sub></i> changed direction (<i>N<sub>k</sub></i>). Results in <i>rVAR<sub>k</sub></i> did not show significant differences in coordinative structure between adolescents and adults, but <i>N<sub>k</sub></i> revealed that adolescents seem to control their movements less tightly in higher-order <i>PM<sub>k</sub></i>, arguably due to slower processing times and missing automatization of postural control or potential increases in exploration. Body height was found to not cause motor control differences between age groups.https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3425/10/4/216adolescent awkwardnessmotor controlbody heightautomatizationprincipal component analysispostural control |
| spellingShingle | Felix Wachholz Federico Tiribello Maurice Mohr Steven van Andel Peter Federolf Adolescent Awkwardness: Alterations in Temporal Control Characteristics of Posture with Maturation and the Relation to Movement Exploration Brain Sciences adolescent awkwardness motor control body height automatization principal component analysis postural control |
| title | Adolescent Awkwardness: Alterations in Temporal Control Characteristics of Posture with Maturation and the Relation to Movement Exploration |
| title_full | Adolescent Awkwardness: Alterations in Temporal Control Characteristics of Posture with Maturation and the Relation to Movement Exploration |
| title_fullStr | Adolescent Awkwardness: Alterations in Temporal Control Characteristics of Posture with Maturation and the Relation to Movement Exploration |
| title_full_unstemmed | Adolescent Awkwardness: Alterations in Temporal Control Characteristics of Posture with Maturation and the Relation to Movement Exploration |
| title_short | Adolescent Awkwardness: Alterations in Temporal Control Characteristics of Posture with Maturation and the Relation to Movement Exploration |
| title_sort | adolescent awkwardness alterations in temporal control characteristics of posture with maturation and the relation to movement exploration |
| topic | adolescent awkwardness motor control body height automatization principal component analysis postural control |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3425/10/4/216 |
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