Background: Among patients with Parkinson's disease (PD), gait is typically disturbed and less automatic. These gait changes are associated with impaired rhythmicity and increased prefrontal activation, presumably in an attempt to compensate for reduced automaticity.
Research Question: We investigated whether during treadmill walking, when the pace is determined and fixed, prefrontal activation in patients with PD is lower, as compared to over-ground walking.
Methods: Twenty patients with PD (age: 69.8 ± 6.5 yrs.; MoCA: 26.9 ± 2.4; disease duration: 7.9 ± 4.2 yrs) walked at a self-selected walking speed over-ground and on a treadmill. A wireless functional near infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) system measured prefrontal lobe activation, i.e., oxygenated hemoglobin (Hb02) in the pre-frontal area. Gait was evaluated using 3D-accelerometers attached to the lower back and ankles (Opal™, APDM). Dynamic gait stability was assessed using the maximum Lyapunov exponent to investigate automaticity of the walking pattern.
Results: Hb02 was lower during treadmill walking than during over-ground walking (p = 0.001). Gait stability was greater on the treadmill, compared to over-ground walking, in both the anteroposterior and medio-lateral axes (p < 0.001).
Significance: These findings support the notion that when gait is externally paced, prefrontal lobe activation is reduced in patients with PD, perhaps reflecting a reduced need for compensatory cognitive mechanisms.
Download full-text PDF |
Source |
|---|---|
| http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.gaitpost.2018.03.041 | DOI Listing |
Publication Analysis
Top Keywords
Similar Publications
Influence of Sudden Changes in Foot Strikes on Loading Rate Variability in Runners.
Sensors (Basel)
December 2024
Faculty of Medicine, Department of Kinesiology, Université Laval, Quebec City, QC G1V OA6, Canada.
Foot strike patterns influence vertical loading rates during running. Running retraining interventions often include switching to a new foot strike pattern. Sudden changes in the foot strike pattern may be uncomfortable and may lead to higher step-to-step variability.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFChanges in Toe Clearance Due to Adjusting the Dorsiflexion Angle of Ankle-Foot Orthoses: A Study in Healthy Individuals.
Bioengineering (Basel)
December 2024
Department of Rehabilitation Medicine, School of Medicine, Fujita Health University, Toyoake 470-1192, Japan.
This study investigated the effects of ankle dorsiflexion angle adjustments in ankle-foot orthoses (AFOs) on the gait of healthy individuals. Fifteen healthy participants engaged in treadmill walking tasks while wearing AFOs with dorsiflexion angles set at 0°, 5°, 10°, and 15°. Three-dimensional treadmill gait analysis was used to collect data during treadmill walking.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFEnhancing Heart Rate-Based Estimation of Energy Expenditure and Exercise Intensity in Patients Post Stroke.
Bioengineering (Basel)
December 2024
Department of Physical Therapy, Sargent College of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences, Boston University, Boston, MA 02215, USA.
Background: Indirect calorimetry is the gold standard field-testing technique for measuring energy expenditure and exercise intensity based on the volume of oxygen consumed (VO, mL O/min). Although heart rate is often used as a proxy for VO, heart rate-based estimates of VO may be inaccurate after stroke due to changes in the heart rate-VO relationship. Our objective was to evaluate in people post stroke the accuracy of using heart rate to estimate relative walking VO (wVO) and classify exercise intensity.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe Interplay Between Muscular Activity and Pattern Recognition of Electro-Stimulated Haptic Cues During Normal Walking: A Pilot Study.
Bioengineering (Basel)
December 2024
School of Mechanical Engineering, Chung-Ang University, 84 Heukseok-Ro, Dongjak District, Seoul 06974, Republic of Korea.
This pilot study explored how muscle activation influences the pattern recognition of tactile cues delivered using electrical stimulation (ES) during each 10% window interval of the normal walking gait cycle (GC). Three healthy adults participated in the experiment. After identifying the appropriate threshold, ES as the haptic cue was applied to the gastrocnemius lateralis (GL) and biceps brachii (BB) of participants walking on a treadmill.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFMiddle and Long Latency Cutaneous Reflexes During the Stance Phase of Gait in Individuals with and Without Chronic Ankle Instability.
Brain Sci
December 2024
Department of Kinesiology, Indiana University, 1025 E 7th St, Bloomington, IN 47405, USA.
Background/objectives: Lower limb cutaneous reflex amplitudes can modulate across gait, which helps humans adjust rhythmic motor outputs to maintain balance in an ever-changing environment. Preliminary evidence suggests people who suffer from repetitive ankle sprains and residual feelings of giving way demonstrate altered cutaneous reflex patterns in the gastrocnemius. However, before cutaneous reflex assessment can be implemented as a clinical outcome measure, there is a need to substantiate these early findings by measuring reflex amplitudes across longer latency periods and exploring the variability of reflexes within each subject.
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!