Conservation of Reactive Stabilization Strategies in the Presence of Step Length Asymmetries During Walking
Abstract
The ability to maintain dynamic balance in response to unexpected perturbations during walking is largely mediated by reactive control strategies. Reactive control during perturbed walking can be characterized by multiple metrics such as measures of whole-body angular momentum (WBAM), which capture the rotational dynamics of the body, and through Floquet analysis which captures the orbital stability of a limit cycle attractor. Recent studies have demonstrated that people with spatiotemporal asymmetries during gait have impaired control of whole-body dynamics as evidenced by higher peak-to-peak ranges of WBAM over the gait cycle. While this may suggest that spatiotemporal asymmetries could impair stability, no studies have quantified how direct modification of asymmetry influences reactive balance control. Here, we used a biofeedback paradigm that allows participants to systematically adopt different levels of step length asymmetry to test the hypothesis that walking asymmetrically impairs the reactive control of balance. In addition, we tested the hypothesis that perturbations to the non-dominant leg would cause less whole-body rotation due to its hypothesized role in weight support during walking. We characterized reactive con...Continue Reading
Associated Clinical Trials
References
Fractal dynamics of human gait: stability of long-range correlations in stride interval fluctuations
Citations
Methods Mentioned
Software Mentioned
Related Concepts
Related Feeds
Auditory Perception
Auditory perception is the ability to receive and interpret information attained by the ears. Here is the latest research on factors and underlying mechanisms that influence auditory perception.