Can action observation modulate balance performance in healthy subjects?
Roberto Gatti, Elisabetta Sarasso, Mattia Pelachin and 3 others
PMID 30693101WHAT IT FOUND
In healthy young adults, watching balance videos alone did not improve body sway more than doing nothing.
Watching and imitating the videos, or doing balance exercises, reduced sway more than doing nothing.
Key findings
01Action observation alone did not improve sway more than no training.
02Action observation plus imitation improved eyes-open sway path length more than no training.
03Balance training improved sway path length during eyes-open and eyes-closed tasks more than no training.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for PTs
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What it does not show
The study was done in 79 healthy young university students who were under 30 years old, had no neurological or orthopedic disorders, and had no competitive balance skills, so it does not show effects in patients with balance problems. The authors called it a pilot study with a relatively small number of subjects, and they did not measure long-term effects after training. Testing was done only before and immediately after the three-week training period, so it cannot show whether changes lasted. The exercises and tests mainly involved feedforward balance mechanisms, not feedback balance strategies. The control group was slightly older than the action observation group, even though randomization was used.
The easy way to misread this
Do not conclude that watching balance videos alone improves balance. The action observation group showed a reduction from before to after, but it did not improve more than the no-training group, and the study was done in healthy young adults rather than patients.