Sex Differences in Human Ankle Stiffness During Standing Balance
The purpose of this study is to quantify sex differences in 2-dimensional (2D) ankle stiffness during upright standing balance and investigate the mechanisms for the differences. A dual-axis robotic platform, capable of perturbing the ankle and measuring the corresponding ankle torques in both the s...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Frontiers Media S.A.
2020-10-01
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| Series: | Frontiers in Sports and Active Living |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fspor.2020.570449/full |
| _version_ | 1811193115947565056 |
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| author | Ermyntrude Adjei Varun Nalam Hyunglae Lee |
| author_facet | Ermyntrude Adjei Varun Nalam Hyunglae Lee |
| author_sort | Ermyntrude Adjei |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | The purpose of this study is to quantify sex differences in 2-dimensional (2D) ankle stiffness during upright standing balance and investigate the mechanisms for the differences. A dual-axis robotic platform, capable of perturbing the ankle and measuring the corresponding ankle torques in both the sagittal and frontal planes, was used to reliably quantify the 2D ankle stiffness while healthy young human subjects perform a range of standing balance tasks, specifically, ankle muscle co-contraction tasks, weight-bearing tasks, and ankle torque generation tasks. In all task conditions and in both planes of ankle motion, ankle stiffness in males was consistently greater than that in females. Among all 26 experimental conditions, all but 2 conditions in the frontal plane showed statistically significant sex differences. Further investigation on the normalized ankle stiffness, scaled by weight times height, suggests that while sex differences in ankle stiffness in the sagittal plane could be explained by sex differences in anthropometric factors as well as neuromuscular factors, the differences in the frontal plane are mostly explained by anthropometric factors. This study also demonstrates that the sex differences in the sagittal plane were significantly higher as compared to those in the frontal plane. The results in this study will provide a foundation for not only characterizing sex differences in ankle stiffness during locomotion, but also investigating sex differences in lower body stability and risk of ankle injury. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-12T00:03:02Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-a4dcb2f94f2544078a9a00ac047c179e |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2624-9367 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-12T00:03:02Z |
| publishDate | 2020-10-01 |
| publisher | Frontiers Media S.A. |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Frontiers in Sports and Active Living |
| spelling | doaj.art-a4dcb2f94f2544078a9a00ac047c179e2022-12-22T03:56:11ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Sports and Active Living2624-93672020-10-01210.3389/fspor.2020.570449570449Sex Differences in Human Ankle Stiffness During Standing BalanceErmyntrude Adjei0Varun Nalam1Hyunglae Lee2School of Biological and Health Systems Engineering, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ, United StatesSchool for Engineering of Matter, Transport and Energy, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ, United StatesSchool for Engineering of Matter, Transport and Energy, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ, United StatesThe purpose of this study is to quantify sex differences in 2-dimensional (2D) ankle stiffness during upright standing balance and investigate the mechanisms for the differences. A dual-axis robotic platform, capable of perturbing the ankle and measuring the corresponding ankle torques in both the sagittal and frontal planes, was used to reliably quantify the 2D ankle stiffness while healthy young human subjects perform a range of standing balance tasks, specifically, ankle muscle co-contraction tasks, weight-bearing tasks, and ankle torque generation tasks. In all task conditions and in both planes of ankle motion, ankle stiffness in males was consistently greater than that in females. Among all 26 experimental conditions, all but 2 conditions in the frontal plane showed statistically significant sex differences. Further investigation on the normalized ankle stiffness, scaled by weight times height, suggests that while sex differences in ankle stiffness in the sagittal plane could be explained by sex differences in anthropometric factors as well as neuromuscular factors, the differences in the frontal plane are mostly explained by anthropometric factors. This study also demonstrates that the sex differences in the sagittal plane were significantly higher as compared to those in the frontal plane. The results in this study will provide a foundation for not only characterizing sex differences in ankle stiffness during locomotion, but also investigating sex differences in lower body stability and risk of ankle injury.https://www.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fspor.2020.570449/fullankle stiffnesssex differencesgender differencesankle injuryhuman ankleankle impedance |
| spellingShingle | Ermyntrude Adjei Varun Nalam Hyunglae Lee Sex Differences in Human Ankle Stiffness During Standing Balance Frontiers in Sports and Active Living ankle stiffness sex differences gender differences ankle injury human ankle ankle impedance |
| title | Sex Differences in Human Ankle Stiffness During Standing Balance |
| title_full | Sex Differences in Human Ankle Stiffness During Standing Balance |
| title_fullStr | Sex Differences in Human Ankle Stiffness During Standing Balance |
| title_full_unstemmed | Sex Differences in Human Ankle Stiffness During Standing Balance |
| title_short | Sex Differences in Human Ankle Stiffness During Standing Balance |
| title_sort | sex differences in human ankle stiffness during standing balance |
| topic | ankle stiffness sex differences gender differences ankle injury human ankle ankle impedance |
| url | https://www.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fspor.2020.570449/full |
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