Augmented Hip Proprioception Influences Mediolateral Foot Placement During Walking

Abstract

Hip abductor proprioception contributes to the control of mediolateral foot placement, which varies with step-bystep fluctuations in pelvis dynamics. Prior work has used hip abductor vibration as a sensory probe to investigate the link between vibration within a single step and subsequent foot placement. Here, we extended prior findings by applying time and location varying vibration in every step, seeking to predictably manipulate the continuous, step-by-step relationship between pelvis dynamics and foot placement. We compared participants' (n=32; divided into two groups of 16 with slightly different vibration control) gait behavior across four treadmill walking conditions: 1) No feedback; 2) Random feedback, with vibration unrelated to pelvis motion; 3) Augmented feedback, with vibration designed to evoke proprioceptive feedback paralleling the actual pelvis motion; 4) Disrupted feedback, with vibration designed to evoke proprioceptive feedback inversely related to pelvis motion. We hypothesized that the relationship between pelvis dynamics and foot placement would be strengthened by Augmented feedback but weakened by Disrupted feedback. For both participant groups, the strength of the relationship between pelvis dynamics at the start of a step and foot placement at the end of a step was significantly (p≤0.0002) influenced by the feedback condition. The link between pelvis dynamics and foot placement was strongest with Augmented feedback, but not significantly weakened with Disrupted feedback, partially supporting our hypotheses. Our approach to augmenting proprioceptive feedback during gait may have implications for clinical populations with a weakened relationship between pelvis motion and foot placement.

Mechanisms that stabilize human walking

“…The models proposed by Wang & Srinivasan Special issue: Effects of aging on locomotor patterns from several other studies on mediolateral control 15,16,17,18,19,20,21,22,23 and to data from one other study on anteroposterior control 13,24 . Jin et al 24 showed that, as for mediolateral foot placement, the anteroposterior center of mass position and velocity in the corresponding direction only provide a good prediction of anteroposterior foot placement, supporting a more parsimonious model for the control of foot placement than the original model 13 .…”

“…Augmented feedback aims to enhance the information used in a feedback process by providing an artificial stimulus enhancing the available sensory information. Augmented proprioception may provide a tool to enhance the degree of foot placement control 21 . Applying timed tendon vibration to either the stance, or the swing leg, depending on what complied with the current center of mass kinematic state, helped to better coordinate foot placement with respect to the center of mass kinematic state 21 .…”

“…Augmented proprioception may provide a tool to enhance the degree of foot placement control 21 . Applying timed tendon vibration to either the stance, or the swing leg, depending on what complied with the current center of mass kinematic state, helped to better coordinate foot placement with respect to the center of mass kinematic state 21 . This likely entails an increased signal-to-noise ratio of the relevant sensory information.…”

The effect of external lateral stabilization on ankle moment control during steady-state walking

“…Training ankle moment control may therefore benefit gait stability, and could potentially allow older adults to walk with a more energetically efficient step width (Donelan et al, 2001). In young adults, augmented proprioceptive feedback worked to enhance the degree of foot placement control (Knapp et al, 2021). Perhaps a similar paradigm can be applied for ankle moment control, to improve modulation following foot placement errors.…”

Neural correlates of gait adaptation in younger and older adults

“…The current brain-behavior results may suggest that the slow (right) leg hip musculature is the hip that is being "controlled" to enable the ML asymmetry. Others have shown that stance leg hip proprioception affects ML balance (Roden-Reynolds et al, 2015;Arvin et al, 2015;Knapp et al, 2021).…”