Visual deprivation leads to gait adaptations that are age- and context-specific: I. Step-time parameters.

In children, visual information is crucial for static postural control, although age-related differences exist in the impact of visual perturbation on postural sway. Since static postural control and locomotion are closely related, we expect age-related differences in the impact of visual deprivation on dynamic stability and gait. It is hypothesised that this is related to the important role of vision in postural control. Postural stability and gait was tested in 20 adults and 40 children (3-11 years old) under two different visual conditions: eyes open (EO) and eyes closed (EC). Significant differences were found between EO and EC for postural sway, dimensionless walking speed, dimensionless stride length and duration of double support. Thus, we can state that visual deprivation affects locomotion both in adults and children. Concerning walking speed a significant interaction effect was observed with age. The difference in walking speed between EO and EC is larger in children than in adults. Furthermore, we found significant correlations between postural sway and walking speed, step frequency and stride length. These observations support the hypothesis that gait adaptations in situations of visual deprivation are related to balance problems.