Some hemiparetic patients walk asymmetrically. To better understand the mechanisms of this deficiency, the perception of locomotor symmetry was investigated in healthy elderly individuals. 16 participants (6 women, 10 men; M age = 70.9 yr., SD = 4.1) walked on a split-belt treadmill either at a self-selected or imposed gait speed. The speed of the two belts was initially similar (or different) and then gradually differed (or matched), so participants had to detect the point of perceived asymmetry (or symmetry). The results revealed that thresholds occurred when the belt speed ratios were .88 and .85. Initial gait speed did not affect the threshold. The parameter that correlated the most with belt speed asymmetry was stance time of the parameters measured. Future studies will investigate whether stroke affects gait symmetry judgments.
Download full-text PDF |
Source |
|---|---|
| http://dx.doi.org/10.2466/25.15.PMS.118k17w6 | DOI Listing |
Publication Analysis
Top Keywords
Similar Publications
Motor synergy and energy efficiency emerge in whole-body locomotion learning.
Sci Rep
January 2025
Neuro-Robotics Lab, Department of Robotics, Graduate School of Engineering, Tohoku University, Sendai, Japan.
Humans exploit motor synergies for motor control; however, how they emerge during motor learning is not clearly understood. Few studies have dealt with the computational mechanism for generating synergies. Previously, optimal control generated synergistic motion for the upper limb; however, it has not yet been applied to the high-dimensional whole-body system.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFExploration-based learning of a stabilizing controller predicts locomotor adaptation.
Nat Commun
November 2024
Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, the Ohio State University, Columbus, OH, USA.
Humans adapt their locomotion seamlessly in response to changes in the body or the environment. It is unclear how such adaptation improves performance measures like energy consumption or symmetry while avoiding falling. Here, we model locomotor adaptation as interactions between a stabilizing controller that reacts quickly to perturbations and a reinforcement learner that gradually improves the controller's performance through local exploration and memory.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFCharacterizing the Longitudinal Impact of Backward Locomotor Treadmill Training on Walking and Balance Outcomes in Chronic Stroke Survivors: A Randomized Single Center Clinical Trial.
medRxiv
September 2024
Department of Neurology and Rehabilitation Medicine, University of Cincinnati, USA.
Article Synopsis
- The study assesses the efficacy of backward locomotor treadmill training (BLTT) versus forward locomotor treadmill training (FLTT) in improving walking speed, symmetry, and postural stability in stroke survivors.
- Forty stroke survivors participated in a randomized trial, undergoing nine training sessions over three weeks, with results measured post-training and at follow-ups.
- Both BLTT and FLTT showed meaningful improvements in walking speed and symmetry, but no significant differences between the two methods were found, indicating that both approaches may benefit chronic stroke patients.
Symmetries and synchronization from whole-neural activity in connectome: Integration of functional and structural networks.
ArXiv
September 2024
Levich Institute and Physics Department, City College of New York, New York, NY 10031, USA.
Understanding the dynamical behavior of complex systems from their underlying network architectures is a long-standing question in complexity theory. Therefore, many metrics have been devised to extract network features like motifs, centrality, and modularity measures. It has previously been proposed that network symmetries are of particular importance since they are expected to underly the synchronization of a system's units, which is ubiquitously observed in nervous system activity patterns.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFComparison of gait analysis before and after unilateral total knee arthroplasty for knee osteoarthritis.
J Orthop Surg Res
August 2024
Center for Frailty and Locomotive Syndrome, National Center for Geriatrics and Gerontology, Obu, Aichi, 474-8511, Japan.
Background: Gait ability can be objectively assessed using gait analysis. Three-dimensional gait analysis, the most commonly used analytical method, has limitations, such as a prolonged examination, high system costs, and inconsistently reported gait symmetry in patients with knee osteoarthritis (OA). Therefore, we aimed to evaluate the gait symmetry and changes before and after unilateral total knee arthroplasty (TKA) using the Walkway analyzer, a sheet-type gait analyzer.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFWant AI Summaries of new PubMed Abstracts delivered to your In-box?
Enter search terms and have AI summaries delivered each week - change queries or unsubscribe any time!