Regulation of locomotor pointing across the lifespan: Investigating age-related influences on perceptual-motor coupling

Abstract

IntroductionThe regulation of one’s step length by placing one’s foot at a specific position within gait, otherwise known as ‘locomotor pointing’, is well understood in walking and running gait. The current study was the first to broaden this understanding to a larger cohort and to describe the influence of age on the regulation of locomotor pointing when walking up to and stepping onto a curb-like platform.MethodsYounger (n = 17, mean age: 25.35 years, range: 19–33) and older adults (n = 105, mean age: 71.49 years, range: 61–86) participated in a walking experiment, requiring them to approach and step onto a curb-like platform. Linear mixed effects modeling was used to study the main outcome variables: onset of regulation, the regulation strategy and the strength of perceptual-motor coupling.ResultsResults showed that with older age, participants showed less variability in foot placement during their approach and seemed to prefer to shorten their steps. Furthermore, the strength of the perceptual-motor relationship was found to be related to age; regulation of step length of both younger and older participants was based on a participant’s current foot position. The strength of this relationship increased as participants got closer to the curb and was stronger with increasing age. Furthermore, younger adults on average lengthened their steps as they got closer to the curb, whereas older adults showed significantly less lengthening compared to their younger counterparts. No age-related differences were found in terms of onset of regulation.DiscussionThe results suggest that the strength of the perceptual-motor relationship in gait is related to age. It is argued that this age-related increase in the strength of perceptual-motor coupling is required to cope with increasing demands linked to the age-related declines of action capabilities. The implications of the findings are discussed in the context of increased falls risks and deficits in perceptual-motor functioning.

Associations Between Gait-Related Falls and Gait Adaptations When Stepping Onto a Curb: A Prospective Falls Study

“…For instance, when investigating locomotor pointing to step over an obstacle, Cornus et al (2009) showed that the strength of perceptual-motor coupling increased when both the walking speed and the obstacle size increased. These results illustrate that when individuals are confronted with higher task demands in a locomotor pointing task, they show stronger perceptual-motor coupling (Andel, Cole, & Pepping, 2018b).…”

Acute effect of traditional and adaptive metronomes on gait variability in older individuals with a history of falls

“…One explanation for this may be found in a constraints-led interpretation of the coordination of walking [ 37 ]. In natural walking, performance is mainly dependent on individual constraints, such as preferred step length, and environmental constraints, such as a step or a stair that may be present on one’s planned route [ 38 , 39 ]. From this viewpoint, the metronome intervention might have resulted in increased task demands; instead of freely timing one’s steps, participants were asked to time this with the beats of the metronome.…”

Principles of the Guidance of Exploration for Orientation and Specification of Action

“…As both orientation and action specification are required for successful control of movement, the enhancement of individual exploration strategies could have important implications for the practice environment. For instance, this could lead to interventions improving decision making on the sports field (McGuckian et al, 2019) or the perceptual guidance of gait in older adults (van Andel et al, 2018, 2019a).…”