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Intro Images:
Photo Credit:© Nicolaus Czarnecki
How does balancing change with age?
This is one of fifteen interactive Link Station activities. Try it out in the Hall of Human Life, then view and compare your data here. How well do you shift you balance? In this activity, you will use your balance ability to move a ball through a maze. How do you think your age or activity level might affect your balance?
Overview
This overview shows how long it took Museum visitors to complete the maze. The vertical axis shows the number of seconds. Lower times show visitors completed the maze quickly. Do you think age, activity level, or sex affected why some people took a shorter or longer amount of time? The graph shows the results of 150 Museum visitors.
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Keeping your balance
Even if you are not a ballerina balancing on your toes, your body is constantly gathering information from millions of cells to keep you balanced. Your brain interprets this information and signals back to your muscles how to react to keep you upright on a bike, standing steady on a skateboard, or even sitting up straight in a chair. Every second, your eyes, inner ears, joints, and muscles send signals to your brain about the position of your body.
Teetering on the edge
As we age, changes in our vision, muscle strength, and inner ear affect our ability to balance. But are we destined to lose our balance as we age? Researchers do not yet know if balance training can outweigh the effects of aging. Balance may improve with training and practice.