Untitled in english

Author(s)

Daniel Boari Coelho

• Document type: Master's Dissertation
• Press: São Paulo.
• Institution: Universidade de São Paulo (USP). Escola Politécnica (EP/BC)
• Defense date: 2008-11-07

Examining board members

Marcos Duarte; Leia Bernardi Bagesteiro; Andre Fabio Kohn

• Advisor: Marcos Duarte

Abstract

The way humans control the balance in the upright posture is not still totally understood and disability due to problems in controlling the posture is a relevant concern. The task of postural control system is to maintain the vertical projection of the centre of gravity of the individual within the support area defined by the base of the feet during the upright posture static. The stability is achieved being generated moments of force on the joints of the body to counteract the effect of gravity or any other disturbance in a continuous and dynamic process during the permanence in certain posture. In order to facilitate early diagnosis of disorders that affect human postural control, the allied theoretical modeling to the simulation computational emerges as option used by the researchers. This paper reviews the main theories of the postural control, the existing models of balance and posture and it presents a new computational model dedicated to the study of human posture erect, with the introduction of a muscle model. It was also studied as the sub-systems of human control, such as dynamic muscle, neural control, visual, vestibular and somatosensorial contribute to the stable posture. This model reproduces the oscillations of the center of mass and center of pressure and has the ability to measure the neural activation, the decomposition of torque reactive and participation of each muscle group in the maintenance of posture. It reproduces, in a feedback model, the existent correlation and observed experimentally between the sign neural and the center of pressure. (AU)