Walking variability during continuous pseudo-random oscillations of the support surface and visual field

Patricia M McAndrew; Jonathan B Dingwell; Jason M Wilken

doi:10.1016/j.jbiomech.2010.02.003

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Walking variability during continuous pseudo-random oscillations of the support surface and visual field

Journal article

Open access

Peer reviewed

Walking variability during continuous pseudo-random oscillations of the support surface and visual field

Patricia M McAndrew, Jonathan B Dingwell and Jason M Wilken

Journal of biomechanics, Vol.43(8), pp.1470-1475

05/28/2010

DOI: 10.1016/j.jbiomech.2010.02.003

PMID: 20346453

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https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/2866814View

Open Access

Abstract

Walking on uneven surfaces or while undergoing perturbations has been associated with increased gait variability in both modeling and human studies. Previous gait research involving continuous perturbations has focused on sinusoidal oscillations, which can result in individuals predicting the perturbation and/or entraining to it. Therefore, we examined the effects of continuous, pseudo-random support surface and visual field oscillations on 12 healthy, young participants. Participants walked in a virtual reality environment under no perturbation (NOP), anterior–posterior (AP) walking surface and visual oscillation and mediolateral (ML) walking surface and visual oscillation conditions. Participants exhibited shorter (p≤0.005), wider (p<0.001) and faster (p<0.001) steps relative to NOP during ML perturbations and shorter (p≤0.005) and wider (p<0.001) steps during AP perturbations. Step length variability and step width variability both increased relative to NOP during all perturbation conditions (p<0.001) but exhibited greater increases for the ML perturbations (p<0.001). Participants exhibited greater trunk position variability and trunk velocity variability in the ML direction than in the AP direction during ML perturbations relative to NOP (p<0.001). Significantly greater variability in the ML direction indicates that to maintain stability, participants needed to exert greater control in the ML direction. This observation is consistent with prior modeling predictions. The large and consistent responses observed during ML visual and walking surface perturbations suggest potential for application during gait training and patient assessment.

Walking

Optic flow

Walking surface

Perturbation

Variability

Details

Title: Subtitle: Walking variability during continuous pseudo-random oscillations of the support surface and visual field
Creators: Patricia M McAndrew - Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of Texas, Austin, TX 78712, USA
Jonathan B Dingwell - Department of Kinesiology & Health Education, University of Texas, Austin, TX 78712, USA
Jason M Wilken - Department of Orthopedics and Rehabilitation, Center for the Intrepid, Ft. Sam Houston, TX 78234, USA
Resource Type: Journal article
Publication Details: Journal of biomechanics, Vol.43(8), pp.1470-1475
DOI: 10.1016/j.jbiomech.2010.02.003
PMID: 20346453
NLM abbreviation: J Biomech
ISSN: 0021-9290
eISSN: 1873-2380
Publisher: Elsevier Ltd
Grant note: DOI: 10.13039/100000002, name: National Institutes of Health, award: 1-R21-EB007638-01A1
Language: English
Date published: 05/28/2010
Academic Unit: Physical Therapy and Rehabilitation Science
Record Identifier: 9984047886702771

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