Abstract
The study of the neural mechanism of human gait control can provide a theoretical basis for the treatment of walking disorders or the improvement of rehabilitation strategies, and further promote the functional rehabilitation of patients with movement disorders. However, the performance and changes of cerebral cortex activity corresponding to gait adjustment intentions are still not clear. The purpose of this study was to detect the blood oxygen activation characterization of the cerebral cortex motor function area when people have the intention to adjust gait during walking. Thirty young volunteers (21 ± 1 years old) performed normal walking, speed increase, speed reduction, step increase, and step reduction, during which oxygenated hemoglobin (HbO), deoxygenated hemoglobin (HbR), and total oxyhemoglobin (HbT) information in the prefrontal cortex (PFC), premotor cortex (PMC), supplementary motor area (SMA) was continuous monitored using near-infrared brain functional imaging. (1) With the intention to adjust gait, the HbO concentration in the SMA increased significantly, while the HbT concentration in the medial-PFC decreased significantly. (2) In the HbO concentration, step reduction is more activated than the step increase in the left-PMC (p= 0.0130); step adjustment is more activated than speed adjustment in the right-PMC (p= 0.0067). In the HbR concentration, the speed reduction is more activated than the speed increase in the left-PFC (p= 0.0103). When the intention of gait adjustment occurs, the increase of HbO concentration in the SMA indicates the initial stage of gait adjustment will increase the cognitive-locomotor demand of the brain. The left brain area meets the additional nerve needs of speed adjustment. The preliminary findings of this study can lay an important theoretical foundation for the realization of gait control based on fNIRS-BCI technology.
Highlights
Patients with stroke have severe motor dysfunction, especially a severe decline in walking ability of the lower limbs[1]
The research results show that the normal walking task and gait adjustment task show different blood oxygen activation patterns corresponding to the cerebral cortex.At the same time, there were significant differences in the activation modes of the brain regions among the four gait adjustment states
This study found that the Right-premotor cortex (PMC) was significantly activated when the step increase compared with speed increase.The Left-PMC and Right-PMC were significantly activated when the step reduction compared to the speed reduction.Indicating that the PMC plays a promoting role in completing the step adjustment task
Summary
Patients with stroke have severe motor dysfunction, especially a severe decline in walking ability of the lower limbs[1]. There have been many studies on gait control and activation of brain regions. Different pace controls on a treadmill affect blood oxygen response in specific brain regions of a subject[3, 4].Previous studies have shown that the brainstem and cerebellum compensate for the neuromotor control system of stroke patients during walking[5], and the reduction in stride and increase in walking speed can improve the gait stability of the elderly while walking and reduce the risk of falls. Detection of motion intention faces two problems, one is recognition accuracy, and the other is time latency. We hope to observe the characteristics of the activation and representation of motor functional regions of the brain when walking to find features that are conducive to detecting motor intentions. The performance and changes of cerebral cortex activity corresponding to gait adjustment intentions arestill not clear
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