Goats decrease hindlimb stiffness when walking over compliant surfaces.

ABSTRACT: Leg stiffness, commonly estimated as the 'compression' of a defined leg element in response to a load, has long been used to characterize terrestrial locomotion. This study investigated how goats adjust the stiffness of their hindlimbs to accommodate surfaces of different stiffness. Goats provide a compelling animal model for studying leg stiffness modulation, because they skillfully ambulate over a range of substrates that vary in compliance. To investigate the adjustments that goats make when walking over such substrates, ground reaction forces and three-dimensional trajectories of hindlimb markers were recorded as goats walked on rigid, rubber and foam surfaces. Net joint moments, power and work at the hip, knee, ankle and metatarsophalangeal joints were estimated throughout stance via

SUBMITTER: Clites TR 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6550006 | biostudies-literature | 2019 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature