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Sensory organisation for balance control in children with strabismus

Year:
2019
Duration:
54 months
Approved budget:
$244,828.35
Researchers:
Dr Prasath Jayakaran
Health issue:
Child and youth (healthy) development
Proposal type:
Emerging Researcher First Grant
Lay summary
Strabismus or misalignment of the eyes is a relatively common childhood disorder with an incidence of approximately 4% in children under 6 years of age. While strabismus primarily affects the visual field and perception of the environment, the possible consequences on multisensory organisation (vision, vestibular and somatosensory) in balance control is largely unexplored. This study aims to investigate if sensory weighting during balance control in children with strabismus is different to children with normal vision, also if this changes over time. Sensory weighting of the vestibular, visual and somatosensory systems will be evaluated with six tasks which are designed to incrementally challenge these systems, using a computerized dynamic posturography. The results of this study will provide insight about the nature of compensatory postural adjustments taking place in children with strabismus in challenging sensory conditions and inform about the need for an intervention to improve balance in these children.