Dr. Szu-Ping Lee, PhD

Balance and Fall Recovery Training

for Amputation

The overall goal of this research project is to investigate the effectiveness and the science of peer-based prosthetic skill training in individuals with leg amputation. Our belief is that amputee learners will show improved skill learning when observing demonstrations from other amputees, as opposed to observing nonamputee models. The investigators will accomplish the objective by answering the following two questions: Question 1: Does peer-based observation training works better for learning motor tasks for individuals with lower limb amputation (LLA)? Question 2: Are there differences in visual focus, behavior, and brain activation patterns when observing motor task demonstrations from amputee peers vs. non-amputees? Participants of this study will be asked to learn a balance and a fall recovery task by observing video demonstrations by amputee peers vs. non-amputees. The investigators will compare which setting produce better learning.