Gaze and the Control of Foot Placement When Walking in Natural Terrain.

ABSTRACT: Human locomotion through natural environments requires precise coordination between the biomechanics of the bipedal gait cycle and the eye movements that gather the information needed to guide foot placement. However, little is known about how the visual and locomotor systems work together to support movement through the world. We developed a system to simultaneously record gaze and full-body kinematics during locomotion over different outdoor terrains. We found that not only do walkers tune their gaze behavior to the specific information needed to traverse paths of varying complexity but that they do so while maintaining a constant temporal look-ahead window across all terrains. This strategy allows walkers to use gaze to tailor their energetically optimal preferred gait cycle to the upco

SUBMITTER: Matthis JS 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5937949 | biostudies-literature | 2018 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature