The acquisition of postural control is an elaborate process, which relies on the balanced integration of multisensory inputs. Current models suggest that young children rely on an ‘en-block’ control of their upper body before sequentially acquiring a segmental control around the age of 7, and that they resort to the former strategy under challenging conditions. While recent works suggest that a virtual sensory environment alters visuomotor integration in healthy adults, little is known about the effects on younger individuals. Here we show that this default coordination pattern is disrupted by an immersive virtual reality framework where a steering role is assigned to the trunk, which causes 6- to 8-year-olds to employ an ill-adapted segmental strategy. These results provide an alternate trajectory of motor development and emphasize the immaturity of postural control at these ages.

姿势控制的获得是一个复杂的过程，它依赖于多感官输入的平衡整合。目前的模型表明，幼儿在 7 岁左右相继获得分段控制之前，依赖于对其上身的“整体”控制，并且他们在具有挑战性的条件下采用前一种策略。虽然最近的研究表明虚拟感官环境会改变健康成年人的视觉运动整合，但对年轻人的影响知之甚少。在这里，我们展示了这种默认的协调模式被沉浸式虚拟现实框架所破坏，该框架将转向角色分配给躯干，这导致 6 至 8 岁的儿童采用不适应的分段策略。