In addition, she is studying the development of balance control in normal children and in children with motor problems such as Cerebral palsy and Down Syndrome. She is currently designing new assessment and treatment strategies to improve balance function in both the child with motor problems and in the older adult who is prone to losses of balance and falls. She is also past president of the International Society for Posture and Gait Research. In the studies on aging and balance control, older adults are asked to walk across a platform that may unexpectedly move forward, simulating a slip on ice or another slippery surface. Note that older adults have delayed onset latencies, longer burst durations and smaller burst magnitudes than young adults.
Practice modifies the developing automatic postural response.
H. Sveistrup, M Woollacott. The development of sensori-motor integration underlying posture control in infants during the transition to independent stance. E. Foster, H. Sveistrup, M. Woollacott. M. Woollacott and P-F Tang. A. Shumway-Cook, M. Woollacott, K. Kerns, M. Baldwin.