Trunk control during gait: Walking with wide and narrow step widths present distinct challenges

Shih, Hai-Jung Steffi; Gordon, James; Kulig, Kornelia

doi:10.1016/j.jbiomech.2020.110135

Cited by 22 publications

(8 citation statements)

References 34 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Moreover, we included only 11 muscles in the synergy analysis not representative of whole-body activity. It could be that the mechanical changes observed would be more closely associated with changes in control of muscles in the upper body [ 75 ]. We extracted five synergies to describe leg muscle activity across both narrow-base and normal walking, together accounting for 87% of the variation in muscle activity.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Improvement in gait stability in older adults after ten sessions of standing balance training

et al. 2022

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Balance training aims to improve balance and transfer acquired skills to real-life tasks. How older adults adapt gait to different conditions, and whether these adaptations are altered by balance training, remains unclear. We hypothesized that reorganization of modular control of muscle activity is a mechanism underlying adaptation of gait to training and environmental constraints. We investigated the transfer of standing balance training, shown to enhance unipedal balance control, to gait and adaptations in neuromuscular control of gait between normal and narrow-base walking in twenty-two older adults (72.6 ± 4.2 years). At baseline, after one, and after ten training sessions, kinematics and EMG of normal and narrow-base treadmill walking were measured. Gait parameters and temporal activation profiles of five muscle synergies were compared between time-points and gait conditions. Effects of balance training and an interaction between training and gait condition on step width were found, but not on synergies. After ten training sessions step width decreased in narrow-base walking, while step width variability decreased in both conditions. Trunk center of mass displacement and velocity, and the local divergence exponent, were lower in narrow-base compared to normal walking. Activation duration in narrow-base compared to normal walking was shorter for synergies associated with dominant leg weight acceptance and non-dominant leg stance, and longer for the synergy associated with non-dominant heel-strike. Time of peak activation associated with dominant leg stance occurred earlier in narrow-base compared to normal walking, while it was delayed in synergies associated with heel-strikes and non-dominant leg stance. The adaptations of synergies to narrow-base walking may be interpreted as related to more cautious weight transfer to the new stance leg and enhanced control over center of mass movement in the stance phase. The improvement of gait stability due to standing balance training is promising for less mobile older adults.

show abstract

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Improvement in gait stability in older adults after ten sessions of standing balance training

et al. 2022

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…18 They were considered to be out of pain when their pain was <1/10 on numeric rating scale for more than 24 hours. Due to high test-retest reliability in our pilot study, 19 back-healthy individuals were only tested once.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Participants were instrumented with a lower extremity and trunk retroreflective marker set 19 and surface electromyography (EMG) on 4 muscle groups bilaterally: rectus abdominis, external oblique, longissimus, and gluteus medius. Kinematic data were captured by an 11-camera Oqus System at 125 Hz (Qualisys; Gothenburg, Sweden); force data were captured by two force plates at 1500 Hz (Advanced Medical Technology Inc.; Watertown, MA); EMG data were captured by a wireless EMG system (Noraxon U.S.A, Inc.; Scottsdale, AZ) at 1500 Hz.…”

Section: Instrumentationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Trunk control in and out of an episode of recurrent low back pain during the Balance-Dexterity Task

Shih

Abe

et al. 2022

Preprint

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

We investigated motor control strategies utilized by individuals with recurrent low back pain (rLBP) during active pain and remission periods as well as by back-healthy controls using the Balance-Dexterity Task. Nineteen young adults with rLBP were tested first when they were in pain and then again in symptom remission, and 19 matched controls were also tested. Trunk kinematic coupling and muscle co-activation were examined while participants performed the task by standing on one leg while compressing a spring with a maximum consistent force with the other leg. We found a decreased bilateral external oblique co-activation and a further reduced trunk coupling during the spring condition of the task compared to in a stable block condition in people with rLBP compared to back-healthy individuals. When individuals were in active pain, they exhibited more co-activation than when they were in remission, but the co-activation was not greater than in back-healthy individuals.

show abstract

“…Walking on the narrow path needs tight COM control, leading to changes in COM variability and metabolic costs. [ 18 19 ] The effectiveness of this walking for KOA patients is unknown and should be examined. Unlike traditional measures, the UCM method can explain the origin of gait variability and help understand the functional roles of gait variability in various task conditions.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Effects of Challenging Walking Conditions on Kinematic Synergy and Stability of Gait in People with Knee Osteoarthritis

Sarrafzadeh

Shafizadegan

Salehi

et al. 2022

Advanced Biomedical Research

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Background: Knee osteoarthritis (KOA) may considerably change the gait parameters, including the gait variability patterns. Uncontrolled manifold (UCM) analysis has been used to evaluate the relationship between motor control and gait variability as a useful index for assessing the multi-segmental movements’ coordination during walking. To our knowledge, no research has evaluated the alterations in the gait kinematic parameters during normal and narrow path walking in individuals with KOA as compared to asymptomatic people. Materials and Methods: In this cross-sectional study, individuals diagnosed with mild to moderate medial KOA and asymptomatic people will walk at their comfortable preferred speed on a treadmill. A motion capture system will be used to record at least 50 successful gait cycles. The kinematic variability of joints during gait will be analyzed using UCM, with the center of mass (COM) displacement considered as the performance variable. The primary outcome measure will be the lower limb synergy index. Variability of the COM displacement and changes in angles and angular velocities of lower extremity joints will be assessed as the secondary outcomes. Results: The results of this protocol study provide information on the lower limb kinematic synergy during gait on normal and narrow paths for individuals with KOA and asymptomatic controls. Conclusion: This information will help the researchers and clinicians understand KOA patients’ gait variability characteristics more deeply. Moreover, it may lead to an enhanced evidence-based approach for clinical decision-making concerning improving gait stability and decreasing the falling risk in these people.

show abstract

Trunk control during gait: Walking with wide and narrow step widths present distinct challenges

Cited by 22 publications

References 34 publications

Improvement in gait stability in older adults after ten sessions of standing balance training

Improvement in gait stability in older adults after ten sessions of standing balance training

Trunk control in and out of an episode of recurrent low back pain during the Balance-Dexterity Task

The Effects of Challenging Walking Conditions on Kinematic Synergy and Stability of Gait in People with Knee Osteoarthritis

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About