The Benefit of Combining Neuronal Feedback and Feed-Forward Control for Robustness in Step Down Perturbations of Simulated Human Walking Depends on the Muscle Function.

ABSTRACT: It is often assumed that the spinal control of human locomotion combines feed-forward central pattern generation with sensory feedback via muscle reflexes. However, the actual contribution of each component to the generation and stabilization of gait is not well understood, as direct experimental evidence for either is difficult to obtain. We here investigate the relative contribution of the two components to gait stability in a simulation model of human walking. Specifically, we hypothesize that a simple linear combination of feedback and feed-forward control at the level of the spinal cord improves the reaction to unexpected step down perturbations. In previous work, we found preliminary evidence supporting this hypothesis when studying a very reduced model of rebounding behaviors. In th

SUBMITTER: Haeufle DFB 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6190627 | biostudies-literature | 2018

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature