Abdominal muscle behavior and motion sickness during paired visual input with roll motion

The study of seated balance, specifically in relation to wheelchair propulsion has the potential to lead to the prevention and treatment of musculoskeletal injuries. To date little study has been done which analyzes the activity of abdominal and back muscles in relation to postural behavior and balance during sitting balance. In this pilot study, the effect of motorized rotational roll movement was analyzed on two subjects with and without visuals in both directions of the individuals. The corresponding muscle activity was recorded by surface electromyography (EMG) in the presence and absence of visual scenery. An assessment of how muscle activity was affected by virtual reality was also conducted, and motion sickness during paired visual input with motion was also examined. The results showed that the dominant factors in abdominal muscle activity were the acceleration and speed of rotational motion and an increase of 20.8% in muscle activity was observed. The results also suggested that motion of the subject with respect to visual display had an inhibitory effect on the motion perception. The findings also suggested that visual scenery during rotational motion had a small effect on the subjects (4.2%), which was possibly caused by placing focus away from maintaining balance. Finally, the study confirmed that the duration of motion with visuals was a major contributor to motion sickness.