Normal Movement Sequences and Balance Reactions

Abstract

The treatment of patients with hemiplegia is a process of teaching and learning. The therapist teaches, the patient learns. When teaching, it is always important that the teacher should know her subject very well, and in this case, where it is movement and reactions that are being taught, the therapist must know exactly what should take place, i. e. how people move and react normally. It should be remembered, however, that “actions characteristically consist of two components; a mental component and a physical component” and the two are closely related, because “The bodily movements in our actions are caused by our intentions” (Searle 1984) Once a person decides to put a plan into action, he has an intention to act, and “the organization of voluntary action, from the intention to the execution, is dependent on the type of voluntary behaviour the subject wants to express” (Roland 1993). Referring to different levels of intentions, Woodworth (1899) explained that, “When I voluntarily start to walk, my intention is not of moving my legs in a certain manner; my will is directed towards reaching a certain place,” and that “I am unable to describe what movements my arms and legs are going to make; but I am able to state what result I design to accomplish”. There will therefore always be some variation in how movements are performed, depending on the surrounding conditions and the person who is moving. “In all cases in which motor initiative or adjustment is required, there is a certain tuning of the movements to an emergent task” (Bernstein 1996). In addition, not only do the nature of the task and the environment alter the body movements; anatomical differences also play a role. Referring to the influence which an individual’s constitution has upon how he or she moves, Klein-Vogelbach (1990) explains that, “deviations of the lengths, widths, depths and weights of certain body segments from hypothetical norms alter a person’s motor behaviour in a predictable manner, particularly when the long axis of the body is inclined out of the horizontal.”