When running is easier than walking: effects of experience and gait on human obstacle traversal in virtual reality.

ABSTRACT: Humans readily traverse obstacles irrespective of whether they walk or run, despite strong differences between these gaits. Assuming that the control of human obstacle traversal may be either gait-specific or gait-independent, the present study investigates whether previous experience in an obstacle traversal task transfers between the two gaits, and, if this was the case, whether transfer worked both ways. To this end, we conducted a within-group comparison of kinematic adjustments during human obstacle traversal in both walking and running, with distinct participant groups for the two gait sequences. Participants (n = 12/12 (f/m), avg. 25 yo) were motion captured as they traversed obstacles at walking and running speeds on a treadmill, surrounded by an immersive virtual reality (VR) envi

SUBMITTER: Hofmann F 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9510118 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature