Skip to content
Research Article Open access CC BY 3.0

Does Syncopated Gait Benefit from Central Pattern Generators?

Kristina J. Mayberry, Lorenzo Chiari

Journal of Scientific Research and Reports · pp. 1117–1126 · Published 18 Mar 2014

10.9734/JSRR/2014/8854

Abstract

Aim: To investigate the feasibility of syncopated (anti-phase) gait, particularly at different walking cadences. We expect it to be more successful at preferred speed because of central pattern generators (CPGs), subcortical neural networks which contribute to gait’s automaticity. Study Design: Research protocol Place and Duration of Study: Faculty of Engineering, University of Bologna, Cesena, Italy, May 2011 to March 2012. Methodology: Ten healthy subjects walked to an auditory metronome beat set to 85%, 100% and 115% of their preferred cadence in a series of one-minute trials. They were instructed to walk in time to the beat for the in-phase condition, so that their heel strike coincided with the beat. For the anti-phase condition, they were instructed to time their heel strike to occur midway between beats. Anterior-posterior acceleration signals, used to calculate heel strike, were measured by an accelerometer worn on the back. The variables cadence variability, jerk (the derivative of acceleration) and harmonic ratio (HR- a measure of gait symmetry and consistency) assessed gait perturbation; phase shift, in degrees, quantified the difference between beats and heel strikes for each step cycle (360º). Results: Anti-phase gait is possible (average timing of in- and anti-phase heel strikes was 350.3±44.8º and 173.4±65.7º, respectively; P<.001). Cadence variability was lowest at the preferred speed for in-phase gait (slow 12.32±1.16%, preferred 7.54±0.49%, fast 10.85±1.20%, P<.001), but no different for anti-phase gait (slow 12.75±1.04%, preferred 13.84±0.98%, fast 13.26±1.07%, P=.75). Conclusion: Decreased variability at preferred speed is an indication of CPG facilitation; this was observed during in-phase but not anti-phase gait. The results provide no evidence that CPGs operate preferentially at preferred speed to contribute to locomotor control during anti-phase gait.

Gait metronome cueing jerk cadence variability central pattern generators anti-phase.

References (25)

  1. 1 Sensorimotor synchronization: A review of the tapping literature [DOI]
  2. 2 Rhythmic auditory stimulation in gait training for Parkinson's disease patients [DOI]
  3. 3 Acceleration patterns of the head and pelvis when walking on level and irregular surfaces [DOI]
  4. 4 Fractal dynamics of human gait: stability of long-range correlations in stride interval fluctuations [DOI]
  5. 5 Rhythmic auditory stimulation modulates gait variability in Parkinson's disease [DOI]
  6. 6 Sensitivity of Smoothness Measures to Movement Duration, Amplitude, and Arrests [DOI]
  7. 7 Proprioceptive regulation of locomotion [DOI]
  8. 8 Cortical and brainstem control of locomotion [DOI]
  9. 9 Patterned control of human locomotion [DOI]
  10. 10 Assessment of spatio-temporal parameters during unconstrained walking [DOI]
  11. 11 Sex-specific differences in gait patterns of healthy older adults: Results from the Baltimore Longitudinal Study of Aging [DOI]
  12. 12 Auditory cues can modify the gait of persons with early-stage Parkinson's disease: a method for enhancing parkinsonian walking performance? [DOI]
  13. 13 Central pattern generators [DOI]
  14. 14 Body weight supported gait training: From laboratory to clinical setting [DOI]
  15. 15 Validation of a Measure of Smoothness of Walking [DOI]
  16. 16 Walking to the beat of different drums: Practical implications for the use of acoustic rhythms in gait rehabilitation [DOI]
  17. 17 Persistent and anti-persistent pattern in stride-to-stride variability of treadmill walking: Influence of rhythmic auditory cueing [DOI]
  18. 18 Distributed neural networks for controlling human locomotion [DOI]
  19. 19 How is the normal locomotor program modified to produce backward walking? [DOI]
  20. 20 Cortical and subcortical networks underlying syncopated and synchronized coordination revealed using fMRI [DOI]
  21. 21 Control of Locomotor Cycle Durations [DOI]
  22. 22 Keeping with the beat: movement trajectories contribute to movement timing [DOI]
  23. 23 Modulation of short-latency intracortical inhibition in human primary motor cortex during synchronised versus syncopated finger movements [DOI]
  24. 24 Effects of Aging on Control of Timing and Force of Finger Tapping [DOI]
  25. 25 The effects of Parkinson's disease and age on syncopated finger movements [DOI]

Cited by 0

No indexed citations yet.

Related research

Article metrics

Real usage data collected on this platform.

81

Page views

0

PDF downloads

45

Outbound clicks

0

Citations

Views over time

Views by country

Approximate, from request IP at view time — not citizenship or institution. Countries with fewer than 5 views are grouped as "Other".

Traffic sources

Referring site, by host.

Views and downloads exclude known bots/crawlers. Citations combines this platform's own DOI-resolved index with each external source's own reported total — see Cited by above for individually listed citing works. Last refreshed 0 seconds ago.