Locomotor patterns change over time during walking on an uneven surface.

ABSTRACT: During walking, uneven surfaces impose new demands for controlling balance and forward progression at each step. It is unknown to what extent walking may be refined given an amount of stride-to-stride unpredictability at the distal level. Here, we explored the effects of an uneven terrain surface on whole-body locomotor dynamics immediately following exposure and after a familiarization period. Eleven young, unimpaired adults walked for 12 min on flat and uneven terrain treadmills. The whole-body center of mass excursion range (COM_exc) and peak velocity (COM_vel), step length and width were estimated. On first exposure to uneven terrain, we saw significant increases in medial-lateral COM_exc and lateral COM_vel, and in the variability of COM_exc

SUBMITTER: Kent JA 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6679350 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature