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Postural Control

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Encyclopedia of Neuroscience

Introduction

To inhabit the world, in all of its unpredictable, variable environments and situations, requires a powerful, yet flexible, system of postural control. For example, the ability to move from sitting to standing; to take a step; to respond to a slip or trip; to predict and avoid obstacles; to carry a glass of wine without spilling it, even when walking across a rolling boat; and to orient your body to a speeding soccer ball, all require excellent postural control. Although neural control of postural orientation and equilibrium involves most of the nervous system and all body segments, the postural system is often forgotten because it usually operates at an automatic, non-voluntary level. Only after an injury to the nervous system or musculo-skeletal system, when we have to really “think about” our balance and postural alignment or battle dizziness and spatial disorientation, do we begin to appreciate the complex systems involved in postural control.

Biomechanical Goals of...

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Neurological Sciences Institute, Oregon Health and Science University, Portland, OR, USA

    Fay B. Horak

Authors
  1. Fay B. Horak
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Physiology & Biophysics, University of Washington School of Medicine, Seattle, Washington, USA

    Marc D. Binder

  2. Department of Cell Biology and Anatomy, Graduate School of Medicine University of Tokyo Hongo, Bunkyo‐ku, Tokyo, Japan

    Nobutaka Hirokawa

  3. Göttingen, Germany

    Uwe Windhorst

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Horak, F.B. (2009). Postural Control. In: Binder, M.D., Hirokawa, N., Windhorst, U. (eds) Encyclopedia of Neuroscience. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-540-29678-2_4708

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