Vaz, João R and CORTES, Nelson and Gomes, João Sá and Jordão, Sofia and Stergiou, Nick (2024) Stride-to-stride fluctuations and temporal patterns of muscle activity exhibit similar responses during walking to variable visual cues. Journal of Biomechanics, 164. p. 111972. DOI https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbiomech.2024.111972
Vaz, João R and CORTES, Nelson and Gomes, João Sá and Jordão, Sofia and Stergiou, Nick (2024) Stride-to-stride fluctuations and temporal patterns of muscle activity exhibit similar responses during walking to variable visual cues. Journal of Biomechanics, 164. p. 111972. DOI https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbiomech.2024.111972
Vaz, João R and CORTES, Nelson and Gomes, João Sá and Jordão, Sofia and Stergiou, Nick (2024) Stride-to-stride fluctuations and temporal patterns of muscle activity exhibit similar responses during walking to variable visual cues. Journal of Biomechanics, 164. p. 111972. DOI https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbiomech.2024.111972
Abstract
Incorporating variability within gait retraining approaches has been proposed and shown to lead to positive changes. Specifically, submitting the individuals to walk in synchrony to cues that are temporally organized with a fractal-like patterns, promotes changes at the stride-to-stride fluctuations closer to those typically find in young adults. However, there is still a need to understand the underlying neuromuscular mechanisms associated to such improvement. Thus, this study aimed to investigate whether changes in the temporal structure of the variability in gait patterns are accompanied by changes in muscle activity patterns. Fourteen young individuals walked synchronized to one uncued (UNC) and three cued conditions: isochronous (ISO), fractal (FRC) and random (RND). Inter-stride intervals were determined from an accelerometer placed on the lateral malleoli. Inter-muscle peak intervals were obtained from the electromyographic signal from the gastrocnemius muscle. Fractal scaling, obtained through detrended fluctuation analysis, and coefficient of variation were calculated. Repeated measures ANOVAs were used to identify differences between conditions. Significant main effect was observed for both fractal scaling and coefficient of variation. Both shown no differences between UNC and FRC conditions, while ISO and RND were significantly lower compared to UNC and FRC conditions. In addition, a Pearson’s Correlation was used to test the correlation between variables. A strong correlation was found the temporal structure of gait and muscle activity patterns. These findings strengthen the current literature regarding the incorporation of variability within cued approaches. Specifically, it shows that such an approach allows the modification of the neuromuscular processes underlying the stride-to-stride fluctuations.
Item Type: | Article |
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Uncontrolled Keywords: | Walking; EMG; Complexity; Fractals; Variability; Cueing |
Divisions: | Faculty of Science and Health Faculty of Science and Health > Sport, Rehabilitation and Exercise Sciences, School of |
SWORD Depositor: | Unnamed user with email elements@essex.ac.uk |
Depositing User: | Unnamed user with email elements@essex.ac.uk |
Date Deposited: | 27 Sep 2024 14:39 |
Last Modified: | 30 Oct 2024 21:11 |
URI: | http://repository.essex.ac.uk/id/eprint/37750 |
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