PhD High-order body representations for the control of body balance during light haptic interactions with another individual

Closing Date

31 May 2019

Salary

Self-funded

Address

School of Health Sciences, University of East Anglia, Norwich

Project Description

High-order body representations, such as body schema which code metric properties of the body as well as movement dynamics, play an important role in sensorimotor control. Across the lifespan, our body underlies gradual changes in size and weight due to growth and aging, which is incorporated when acquiring a new or improving an existing motor skills. Thus, our changing bodily characteristics afford the continuous updating of any embodied self-representations to ensure optimal sensorimotor control adapted to any internal and external requirements. 

In social movement activities actors use haptic information from physical contact for movement coordination with their partner. Spontaneous resonance phenomena between two interacting individuals indicate a direct influence of the observation and interpretation of the actions of another individual on the immediate control of our own behaviour. To minimize interpersonal delays and optimize movement synchronization, interpersonal anticipation is therefore important in addition to sensory feedback. The interpretation of any interpersonal tactile signal, however, may be dependent on a functional distinction between self and other based on predictive body representations. Does interpersonal anticipation involve representations of each other’s movement dynamics as well as anthropometric characteristics? In this PhD project, we will investigate in healthy individuals whether high-order body representations of the self and the other, such as body schema and body image, influence interpersonal coordination and leader-follower relationships during standing with deliberately light haptic interactions. Behavioural outcome measures will comprise quantitative behavioural measurements established in human movement science, such as posturography and kinematic movement analysis, as well as in social-cognitive psychology, such as computerized visual perception tasks. 

For more information on the supervisor for this project, please go here: https://people.uea.ac.uk/en/persons/l-johannsen 

The type of programme: PHD 

Project Start Date: 2018/19 

Full-time or Part-time 

- Entry Requirements: This project is suitable for someone with a good first degree (at least 2:1) in a related topic area, such as Human Movement Science, Sport Science, Psychology, Behavioural Neuroscience, Medicine, Physiotherapy, Occupational therapy 

The standard minimum entry requirement is 2:1 
 

Funding Notes

This PhD project is offered on a self-funding basis. It is open to applicants with funding or those applying to funding sources. Details of tuition fees can be found here

References

i) Steinl, Saskia M. ; Johannsen, Leif. Interpersonal interactions for haptic guidance during maximum forward reaching. In: Gait & Posture. 2017 ; Vol. 53. pp. 17-24 
ii) Sofianidis, George ; Hatzitaki, Vassilia ; Grouios, George ; Johannsen, Leif ; Wing, Alan. Somatosensory driven interpersonal synchrony during rhythmic sway. In: Human Movement Science. 2012 ; Vol. 31, No. 3. pp. 553-566 
iii) Johannsen, Leif ; Wing, Alan M. ; Hatzitaki, Vassilia. Contrasting effects of finger and shoulder interpersonal light touch on standing balance. In: Journal of Neurophysiology. 2012 ; Vol. 107, No. 1. pp. 216-225 

For more information and to apply, click here