Sensory Integration
Lesson 2 - Visual System
Visual inputs
- Provides knowledge of body sway and orientation in the environment
- Provides information about the direction and speed of body sway.
- Allows perception and body orientation with respect to the vertical and horizontal visual.
Visual dependence is the general term for persons who have increased their weighting of vision. This is usually thought to be due to lack of confidence in vestibular or somatosensory input. Older adults and individuals with neurological disorders may over rely on their visual systems for balance.
Great references for more information and treatment ideas:
Visual Scanning
“Visual scanning of the environment to identify obstacles and traversable paths is essential for pedestrians to safely move through our cluttered world. Visual information is continuously gathered and processed to maintain balance and generate the most appropriate locomotor adaptations to ensure safe and efficient travel, e.g., changing direction, stepping over obstacles and placing the feet on stable areas of the terrain.”
If you have a client that always needs to look down at their feet, or maybe feels off balance when looking or turning their head their visual scanning and gaze behavior of their environment may change and put them at greater risk for falls. Adding route previewing and visual scanning exercises to stepping and balance exercises may be beneficial to improve self-confidence and stepping accuracy.
Here is one example of a visual scanning exercise ( find the red or green laser light on the wall to the right or left and then step to the matching color – can increase difficulty and say step to the opposite color).
I love that a grandmother and grandchild can have fun doing this exercise together.
Curzon-Jones BT, Hollands MA. Route previewing results in altered gaze behaviour, increased self-confidence and improved stepping safety in both young and older adults during adaptive locomotion. Exp Brain Res. 2018;236(4):1077-1089. doi:10.1007/s00221-018-5203-9