Orientation of the Head and Trunk During Functional Upper Limb Movement
Open Access
- 19 March 2020
- journal article
- research article
- Published by MDPI AG in Applied Sciences
- Vol. 10 (6), 2115
- https://doi.org/10.3390/app10062115
Abstract
Upper limb activities imply positioning of the head with respect to the visual target and may impact trunk posture. However, the postural constraints imposed on the neck remains unclear. We used kinematic analysis to compare head and trunk orientation during arm movements (pointing) with isolated movements of the head (heading). Ten right-handed healthy adults completed both experimental tasks. In the heading task, subjects directed their face toward eight visual targets placed over a wide frontal workspace. In the pointing task, subjects pointed to the same targets (each with their right arm). Movements were recorded using an electromagnetic spatial tracking system. Both orientation of the head and trunk in space (Euler angles) and orientation of the head relative to the trunk were extracted. The orientation of the head in space was closely related to target direction during both tasks. The trunk was relatively stable during heading but contributed to pointing, with leftward axial rotation. These findings illustrate that the neck compensates for trunk rotation during pointing, engaging in specific target-dependent 3D movement in order to preserve head orientation in space. Future studies may investigate neck kinematics of people experiencing neck pain in order to identify and correct inefficient movement patterns, particularly in athletes.This publication has 66 references indexed in Scilit:
- Three-Dimensional Transformations for Goal-Directed ActionAnnual Review of Neuroscience, 2011
- The trunk as a part of the kinematic chain for reaching movements in healthy subjects and hemiparetic patientsBrain Research, 2011
- Risk Factors for Volleyball‐Related Shoulder Pain and DysfunctionPM&R, 2010
- Three-Dimensional Analysis of the Cervical Spine KinematicsSpine, 2009
- No injuries, but plenty of pain? On the methodology for recording overuse symptoms in sportsBritish Journal of Sports Medicine, 2009
- Review of enigmatic MTrPs as a common cause of enigmatic musculoskeletal pain and dysfunctionJournal of Electromyography and Kinesiology, 2004
- A Descriptive Epidemiological Study of Shoulder Injury in Top Level English Male Volleyball PlayersInternational Journal of Sports Medicine, 2001
- Common Injuries in VolleyballSports Medicine, 1997
- Posture affects motion coupling patterns of the upper cervical spineJournal of Orthopaedic Research, 1993
- Three-Dimensional Analysis of Neck MotionSpine, 1990