Presenting at the COEHP Honors Research Symposium, April 2022

Author: Grace Balsam | Major: Exercise Science | Semester: Spring 2022

Hey there! My name is Grace Balsam, and I am a recent graduate of the University of Arkansas; I graduated with honors from the College of Education and Health Professions with a bachelor’s degree of Science in Exercise Science. I am currently working as a medical assistant in an internal medicine clinic back home in Memphis, TN as I am applying to Physician Assistant programs. With the help of Dr. Abigail Schmitt, an assistant professor in the Health, Human Performance and Recreation department, I was able to successfully complete an Honors thesis in May 2022. Spending my last semester in Fayetteville working on my thesis gave me an opportunity to become more familiar with scientific research and how daily activities often require more than what most people believe, such as maintaining balance in a dynamic environment. At first glance, I was nervous to get the ball rolling on my thesis because it was “just another” balance study, but I was taking something that seems innate to humans and hoping to isolate each variable that feeds into one’s ability to maintain such postural control, or what is also known as balance.

Human balance relies on three major sensory input systems: vestibular, somatosensory, and visual. In a nutshell, the vestibular system provides information pertaining to the ability to move and position one’s head; the somatosensory system provides information pertaining to the surface one is standing on and the location of one’s limbs relative to the environment; and the visual input system provides information pertaining to one’s ability to recognize where they are relative to their surroundings. I focused on the effects of changes to one’s visual input system and their ability to maintain balance because I am hoping to further explore safety recommendations in special populations, such as individuals with multiple sclerosis or Parkinson’s disease. As this was an Honor’s project in the midst of a global pandemic, university students became our prime candidates for study participants. Working with 18–35-year-olds, I was forced to understand that this study was more of a stepping stone to begin working with aforementioned special populations because we were working with young, healthy individuals who had not experienced any neurological disorders or symptoms that would have prevented their ability to maintain balance for a total of 20 minutes. Despite working with participants who do not experience significant problems in maintaining balance in their daily life, the study provided an opportunity to identify trends in how one’s visual input system is forced to adjust to protect their ability to maintain balance and maneuver the world safely.

Going into the world of health professions, I have always wanted to help people become the best versions of themselves; after being exposed to various diseases and disorders through my courses, I decided to then focus my thesis on such special populations. I was in Dr. Schmitt’s Mechanics of Human Movement course during the fall semester of my junior year, and after becoming more familiar with her research and biomechanics knowledge, I knew she was the best option for my mentor. Most of her research experience involves studying gait and the mechanics of how we move, but she did have some experience with balance studies. I also thought that balance was a simple task that humans could just do, but to understand how three sensory input systems must work simultaneously instantly piqued my interest. Dr. Schmitt allowed me to delve into literature in hopes of determining how we could formulate a unique balance study, and I became infatuated with the visual input system’s role in maintaining balance. I found that most balance studies are performed with participants standing quietly after being instructed to look at a specific point – such as an “X” – on the wall, but I kept coming to the conclusion that there is no opportunity for one to look at a singular “X” on the wall throughout daily life; we live in such a dynamic world, so I then developed conditions that would require participants to adjust what they were looking at while attempting to maintain balance. The combination of changing conditions was used to represent a more real-life scenario that could then identify how people maintain balance while adjusting one of their most important sensory input systems. With the help of Dr. Schmitt and her Ph.D. student Ashlyn Jendro, I was able to collect and analyze center of pressure and gaze data from 15 participants.

This study supported my hypothesis that postural sway would be greater in those conditions without constraints on what the participant could look at, i.e., freely gazing at the lab wall ahead of them compared to looking at an “X” on the wall. Interestingly, we found that most participants naturally fixated on a certain point during the free gaze condition, as I assumed that with more area to visually scan, postural sway would be increased. Understanding the natural tendencies of participants to fixate without being directed could help identify the role of postural control in preventing falls as special populations learn to scan and take in their surroundings on a daily basis. Although I was only able to perform this study with young, healthy participants, I am excited to take what I’ve learned and hopefully continue to work towards safer and more effective fall prevention strategies around the country. For patients with such disorders, i.e., someone living with multiple sclerosis, activities that seem simple and mundane pose a challenge; simply walking to check the mailbox could end in injury. I am excited for the opportunity to dedicate my life and career to making sure each and every patient I come in contact with feels comfortable in their own bodies to safely maneuver the world around them.