Adapting lateral stepping control to walk on winding paths.

Most often, gait biomechanics is studied during straight-ahead walking. However, real-life walking imposes various lateral maneuvers people must navigate. Such maneuvers challenge people's lateral balance and can induce falls.

Probability of lateral instability while walking on winding paths.

People with balance impairments often struggle performing turns or lateral maneuvers, which can increase risk of falls and injuries. Here we asked how people's mediolateral balance is impacted when walking on non-straight winding paths. Twenty-four healthy adults (12F / 12M; 25.

A model of task-level human stepping regulation yields semistable walking.

A simple lateral dynamic walker, with swing leg dynamics and three adjustable input parameters, is used to study how motor regulation affects frontal plane stepping. Motivated by experimental observations and phenomenological models, we imposed task-level multiobjective regulation targeting the walker's optimal lateral foot placement at each step. The regulator prioritizes achieving step width and lateral body position goals to varying degrees by choosing a mixture parameter.

How older adults maintain lateral balance while walking on narrowing paths.

Background: Older adults have difficulty maintaining side-to-side balance while navigating daily environments. Losing balance in such circumstances can lead to falls. We need to better understand how older adults adapt lateral balance to navigate environment-imposed task constraints.