Haptic contact with a walking dog improves human balance during a quiet tandem task with various levels of difficulty

Eliane Mauerberg-deCastro; Gabriella A. Figueiredo; Thayna P. Iasi; Debra F. Campbell; Renato Moraes

doi:10.20338/bjmb.v15i3.245

Haptic contact with a walking dog improves human balance during a quiet tandem task with various levels of difficulty

Authors

Eliane Mauerberg-deCastro Laboratory of Action and Perception, Department of Physical Education, São Paulo State University (Unesp), Rio Claro, SP, Brazil - emauerberg@hotmail.com
Gabriella A. Figueiredo Laboratory of Action and Perception, Department of Physical Education, São Paulo State University (Unesp), Rio Claro, SP, Brazil
Thayna P. Iasi Laboratory of Action and Perception, Department of Physical Education, São Paulo State University (Unesp), Rio Claro, SP, Brazil
Debra F. Campbell Laboratory of Action and Perception, Department of Physical Education, São Paulo State University (Unesp), Rio Claro, SP, Brazil
Renato Moraes School of Physical Education and Sport at Ribeirão Preto, University of São Paulo (USP), Ribeirão Preto, SP, Brazil

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.20338/bjmb.v15i3.245

Keywords:

Dog walking, Human-animal interaction, Haptic contact, Balance tasks, Task constraints

Abstract

BACKGROUND: When a person walks a dog, information from variables of their own postural control is integrated with haptic information from the dog’s movements (e.g., direction, speed of movement, pulling forces).

AIM: We examined how haptic information provided through contact with a moving endpoint (here, the leash of a dog walking on a treadmill) influenced an individual’s postural control during a quiet tandem standing task with and without restricted vision and under various elevations of the support surface (increased task difficulty levels).

METHOD: Adults performed a 30-second quiet tandem stance task on a force platform while holding a leash attached to a dog who walked on a treadmill parallel to the force platform. Conditions included: haptic contact (dog and no-dog), vision constraint (eyes open, EO, and eyes closed, EC), and surfaces (4 heights).

RESULTS: Interaction between haptic condition and vision showed that contact with the dog leash reduced root mean square (RMS) and mean sway speed (MSS). RMS showed that the highest surface had the greatest rate of sway reduction during haptic contact with EC, and an increase with EO.

CONCLUSION: The dog’s movements were used as a haptic reference to aid balance when eyes were closed. In this condition, contact with the dog’s leash reduced the extent of sway variability on the higher surfaces.

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Published

2021-09-01

How to Cite

Mauerberg-deCastro, E., Figueiredo, G. A., Iasi, T. P., Campbell, D. F., & Moraes, R. (2021). Haptic contact with a walking dog improves human balance during a quiet tandem task with various levels of difficulty. Brazilian Journal of Motor Behavior, 15(3), 237–249. https://doi.org/10.20338/bjmb.v15i3.245

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Issue

Vol. 15 No. 3 (2021)

Section

Research Articles

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