Walking Task Research Articles

Does Kinesio taping of tibialis posterior or peroneus longus have an immediate effect on improving foot posture, dynamic balance, and biomechanical variables in young women with flexible flatfoot?

BackgroundFlexible flatfoot is common in young adults. One of its causes is the failure of dynamic stabilizers, which play an important role in the medial longitudinal arch support, and their appropriate function is necessary for the integrity of the lower extremity and the spine. ObjectiveThe study aimed to determine Kinesio taping on which extrinsic foot muscle provides greater benefit regarding enhancement of foot posture, dynamic balance, and biomechanical parameters in functional tasks immediately. MethodsThirty women were recruited for the study. They were randomly divided into groups (A = 15, B = 15). In group A, Kinesio taping was applied on the tibialis posterior (TP), and in group B, Kinesio taping was applied on the peroneus longus (PL) and remained for 30 min. Outcome measures were the navicular drop test (NDT), foot posture index (FPI), Y-balance test, and biomechanical parameters in functional tasks. Before/After within-group and between-group comparisons of outcome measures were performed. ResultsNDT and FPI decreased in both groups (p < 0.05) with no significant difference between groups. In group A, maximum total force of the stance phase (MaxTFSP) during running increased, and some temporal parameters were changed. (p < 0.05). In group B, Y-balance test improved in all directions, and the width of the gait line during walking increased. There were no significant differences in the postural stability parameters in the within-group comparison, except for mean center of pressure displacement in group B (p = 0.04). ConclusionKinesio taping of both muscles could improve foot posture. TP Kinesio taping can increase the MaxTFSP during running and alter some temporal parameters during walking and running tasks. PL Kinesio taping could lead to better dynamic stability and coordination during dynamic tasks. Each muscle can be considered a therapeutic target for a specific purpose.

Speech and gait abnormalities in motor subtypes of de-novo Parkinson's disease.

To investigate the presence and relationship of temporal speech and gait parameters in patients with postural instability/gait disorder (PIGD) and tremor-dominant (TD) motor subtypes of Parkinson's disease (PD). Speech samples and instrumented walkway system assessments were acquired from a total of 60 de-novo PD patients (40 in TD and 20 in PIGD subtype) and 40 matched healthy controls. Objective acoustic vocal assessment of seven distinct speech timing dimensions was related to instrumental gait measures including velocity, cadence, and stride length. Compared to controls, PIGD subtype showed greater consonant timing abnormalities by prolonged voice onset time (VOT) while also shorter stride length during both normal walking and dual task, while decreased velocity and cadence only during dual task. Speaking rate was faster in PIGD than TD subtype. In PIGD subtype, prolonged VOT correlated with slower gait velocity (r=-0.56, p=0.01) and shorter stride length (r=-0.59, p=0.008) during normal walking, whereas relationships were also found between decreased cadence in dual task and irregular alternating motion rates (r=-0.48, p=0.04) and prolonged pauses (r=-0.50, p=0.03). No correlation between speech and gait was detected in TD subtype. Our findings suggest that speech and gait rhythm disorder share similar underlying pathomechanisms specific for PIGD subtype.

Increased Effective Connectivity of the Left Parietal Lobe During Walking Tasks in Parkinson's Disease.

In Parkinson's disease (PD), walking may depend on the activation of the cerebral cortex. Understanding the patterns of interaction between cortical regions during walking tasks is of great importance. This study investigated differences in the effective connectivity (EC) of the cerebral cortex during walking tasks in individuals with PD and healthy controls. We evaluated 30 individuals with PD (62.4±7.2 years) and 22 age-matched healthy controls (61.0±6.4 years). A mobile functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) was used to record cerebral oxygenation signals in the left prefrontal cortex (LPFC), right prefrontal cortex (RPFC), left parietal lobe (LPL), and right parietal lobe (RPL) and analyze the EC of the cerebral cortex. A wireless movement monitor was used to measure the gait parameters. Individuals with PD demonstrated a primary coupling direction from LPL to LPFC during walking tasks, whereas healthy controls did not demonstrate any main coupling direction. Compared with healthy controls, individuals with PD showed statistically significantly increased EC coupling strength from LPL to LPFC, from LPL to RPFC, and from LPL to RPL. Individuals with PD showed decreased gait speed and stride length and increased variability in speed and stride length. The EC coupling strength from LPL to RPFC negatively correlated with speed and positively correlated with speed variability in individuals with PD. In individuals with PD, the left prefrontal cortex may be regulated by the left parietal lobe during walking. This may be the result of functional compensation in the left parietal lobe.

Predictors of mobility status one year post hip fracture among community-dwelling older adults prior to fracture: A prospective cohort study.

Orthopedists and other clinicians assess recovery potential of hip fracture patients at 2months post-fracture for care planning. It is unclear if examining physical performance (e.g., balance, gait speed, chair stand) during this follow-up visit can identify individuals at a risk of poor functional recovery, especially mobility, beyond available information from medical records and self-report. Data came from 162 patients with hip fracture enrolled in the Baltimore Hip Studies-7th cohort. Predictors of mobility status (ability to walk 1 block at 12 months post-fracture) were the Short Physical Performance Battery (SPPB) comprising balance, walking and chair rise tasks at 2months; baseline medical chart information (sex, age, American Society of Anesthesiologist physical status rating, type of fracture and surgery, and comorbidities); and self-reported information about the physical function (ability to walk 10feet and 1 block at pre-fracture and at 2months post-fracture). Prediction models of 12-month mobility status were built using two methods: (1) logistic regression with least absolute shrinkage and selection operator (LASSO) regularization, and (2) classification and regression trees (CART). Area under ROC curves (AUROC) assessed discrimination. The participants had a median age of 82 years, and 49.3% (n=80) were men. Two-month SPPB and gait speed were selected as predictors of 12-month mobility by both methods. Compared with an analytic model with medical chart and self-reported information, the model that additionally included physical performance measures had significantly better discrimination for 12-month mobility (AUROC 0.82 vs. 0.88, p=0.004). Assessing SPPB and gait speed at 2months after a hip fracture in addition to information from medical records and self-report significantly improves prediction of 12-month mobility. This finding has important implications in providing tailored clinical care to patients at a greater risk of being functionally dependent who would not otherwise be identified using regularly measured clinical markers.

Using functional near-infrared spectroscopy to measure prefrontal cortex activity during dual-task walking and navigated walking: A feasibility study.

While functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) can provide insight into motor-cognitive deficits during ecologically valid gait conditions, the feasibility of using fNIRS during complex walking remains unknown. We tested the process and scientific feasibility of using an fNIRS device to measure cortical activity during complex walking tasks consisting of straight walking and navigated walking under single and dual-task (DT) conditions. Nineteen healthy people from 18 to 64 years (mean age: 45.7 years) participated in this study which consisted of three complex walking protocols: (i) straight walking, DT walking (walking while performing an auditory Stroop task) and single-task auditory Stroop, (ii) straight and navigated walking, and (iii) navigated walking and navigated DT walking. A rest condition (standing still) was also included in each protocol. Process feasibility outcomes included evaluation of the test procedures and participant experience during and after each protocol. Scientific feasibility outcomes included signal quality measures, and the ability to measure changes in concentration of deoxygenated and oxygenated hemoglobin in the prefrontal cortex. All participants were able to complete the three protocols with most agreeing that the equipment was comfortable (57.9%) and that the testing duration was adequate (73.7%). Most participants did not feel tired (94.7%) with some experiencing pain (42.1%) during the protocols. The signal qualities were high for each protocol. Compared to the rest condition, there was an increase in oxygenated hemoglobin in the prefrontal cortex when performing dual-task walking and navigation. We showed that our experimental setup was feasible for assessing activity in the prefrontal cortex with fNIRS during complex walking. The experimental setup was deemed acceptable and practicable. Signal quality was good during complex walking conditions and findings suggest that the different tasks elicit a differential brain activity, supporting scientific feasibility.

Visuospatial working memory abilities in children analyzed by the bricks game task (BGT)

The study of the development of visuospatial memory processes is useful for devising personalized educational interventions as well as for understanding the changes in cognitive functioning in an era characterized by technological progress. The present research is aimed at investigating spatial working memory ability in children that attended the first three years of primary school by means of the Brick Game Task (BGT), a novel visuospatial working memory test. BGT is a small-scale ecological test inspired by behavioral walking tasks with nine white bricks in different spatial configurations as well as to Corsi Block-Tapping test.228 Italian children (121 F; mean age: 7.22 ± 1.18) were assigned to three groups based on the primary school class attended: Group 1 (N = 85; 40 F; mean age 6.18 ± .5), Group 2 (N = 61; 36 F; mean age 7.2 ± .83), and Group 3 (N = 82; 44 F; mean age 8.32 ± .94). All participants were asked to complete the Digit Span test, the Corsi Block-Tapping test, and to explore the three spatial configurations of the BGT with the form of Matrix, M-BGT, Cluster, CL-BGT, Cross, CR-BGT.MANOVA revealed a main significant effect for Group (F12,434 = 15.06; p < .0001) indicating that the group of older obtained a better global executive performance than 1 and 2 groups. Multiple linear regression indicated that Corsi Block-Tapping test performance and Age significantly predicted the M-BGT score. Moreover, Corsi Block-Tapping test and Digit Span significantly predicted the CL-BGT performance, showing how a higher score results in a better CL- BGT performance. Finally, Corsi Block-Tapping test, Digit Span, and Age were positively associated with the CR- BGT performance. The present findings evidenced that novel BGT is a sensible visuospatial working memory task suggesting thus its use to assess the children’s executive performance in ecological way. These results open to the development of personalized educational interventions.

The Executive-Function-Related Cognitive–Motor Dual Task Walking Performance and Task Prioritizing Effect on People with Parkinson’s Disease

To safely walk in a community environment requires dual cognitive-walking ambulation ability for people with Parkinson's disease (PD). A past study showed inconsistent results on cognitive-walking performance for PD patients, possibly due to the various cognitive tasks used and task priority assignment. This study designed cognitive-walking tests that used executive-related cognitive tasks to evaluate patients with early-stage Parkinson's disease who did not have obvious cognitive deficits. The effect of assigning task prioritization was also evaluated. Sixteen individuals with PD (PD group) and 16 individuals without PD (control group) underwent single cognitive tests, single walking tests, dual walking tests, and prioritizing task tests. Three types of cognitive, spatial memory, Stroops, and calculation tasks were employed. The cognitive performance was evaluated by response time, accuracy, and speed-accuracy trade off composite score. The walking performance was evaluated by the temporal spatial gait characteristics and variation in gait. The results showed that the walking performance of the PD group was significantly worse than the control group in both single and dual walking conditions. The group difference in cognitive performance was shown in composite score under the dual calculation walking task but not under the single task. While assigning priority to walking, no group difference in walking was observed but the response accuracy rate of PD groups declined. This study concluded that the dual task walking test could sharpen the cognitive deficits for early-stage PD patients. The task priority assignment might not be recommended while testing gait deficits since it decreased the ability to discriminate group differences.

Walking speed and dual task input modality impact performance on a self-paced treadmill

Interference between a walking task (target speeds on a self-paced treadmill) and dual visual and tactile-visual response time task was investigated. Ambulatory dual-task scenarios reveal how attention is divided between walking and additional tasks, but the impact of walking speed and dual-task modality on gait characteristics and dual-task performance is unclear. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effect of visual and tactile-visual dual-task on gait performance. Participants (n=15) targeted four speeds (0.5, 1.0, 1.3, and 1.5 m/s) on a self-paced treadmill with a visual speed indicator (a green region centered at the target speed). Participants completed the same speed profile on the treadmill without (Self-Paced) and with a response time dual task (Self-Paced with Dual Task) requiring finger-tap responses to go/no-go cues. Six gait characteristics were calculated: proportion of time in the desired speed green region (GTP), speed ratio (ratio of mean to target speed), time to green region after target speed change (NRT), normalized stride width (NSW), normalized stride length (NSL), and stride time (ST). Both stride length and width were normalized by participant leg length. Lower GTP and greater speed ratio at slower speeds during dual tasking indicate speed-dependent changes in gait characteristics. Changes in NSL and ST were more affected by speed than dual task. These findings support that when speed is a parameter that is tracked, participants do not universally decrease speed in the presence of a dual task. These findings can support the decisions made when designing new wearable technologies that support navigation, communication, and mobility.

Effect of the Level of Physical Activity on Prefrontal Cortex Hemodynamics in Older Adults During Single- and Dual-Task Walking.

The present study aimed to examine the impact of the level of physical activity on prefrontal cortex activation in older adults during single- and dual-task walking. Thirty physically inactive and 36 active older adults (60-85years old) performed six 2-min tasks on a treadmill: two static cognitive tasks, two single-task walking tests, and two dual-task walking tests. Hemodynamics at the level of the prefrontal cortex were measured continuously using functional near-infrared spectroscopy to evaluate cortical activation. The perceived difficulty of the task, cognitive performance, and gait parameters were also measured. During the walking tasks, the level of prefrontal cortex activation, the perceived difficulty of the task, cognitive performance, and motor parameters were not significantly different between active and inactive older adults. This unchanged activation with physical activity was likely the consequence of a similar motor and cognitive load and cardiorespiratory fitness in both active and inactive older adults.

Learning Ergonomic Control in Human–Robot Symbiotic Walking

This article presents an imitation learning strategy for extracting ergonomically safe control policies in physical human–robot interaction scenarios. The presented approach seeks to proactively reduce the risk of injuries and musculoskeletal disorders by anticipating the ergonomic effects of a robot's actions on a human partner, e.g., how the ankle angle of a prosthesis affects future knee torques of the user. To this end, we extend ensemble Bayesian interaction primitives to enable the prediction of latent biomechanical variables. This methodology yields a reactive control strategy, which we evaluate in an assisted walking task with a robotic lower limb prosthesis. Building upon the learned interaction primitives, we also present a model-predictive control (MPC) strategy that actively steers the human–robot interaction toward ergonomic and safe movement regimes. We compare the introduced control strategies and highlight the framework's ability to generate ergonomic, biomechanically safe assistive prosthetic control. A rich analysis of constrained MPC shows a 20× reduction in the effects of large perturbations on prosthetic control system. We empirically demonstrate a 16% reduction in vertical knee reaction forces in real-world jumping experiments utilizing our control methodology and examine other optimal control strategies in simulated walking experiments.

Fall history in older adults impacts acceleration profiles after a near collision with a moving pedestrian hazard.

Environmental hazards (e.g., pedestrian traffic) cause falls and testing environment impacts gait in older adults. However, most fall risk evaluations do not assess real-world moving hazard avoidance. This study examined the effect of fall history in older adults on acceleration profiles before, during, and after a near collision with a moving hazard, in laboratory and real-world settings. Older adults with (n = 14) and without a fall history (n = 15) performed a collision avoidance walking task with a sudden moving hazard in real-world and laboratory settings. Gait acceleration and video data of participants' first-person views were recorded. Four mixed effects multilevel models analyzed the magnitude and variability of mean and peak anteroposterior and mediolateral acceleration while walking before, during, and after the moving hazard in both environments. In the real-world environment, older adults without a fall history increased their mean anteroposterior acceleration after the moving hazard (p = 0.046), but those with a fall history did not (p > 0.05). Older adults without a fall history exhibited more intersubject variability than those with a fall history in mean (p < 0.001) and peak anteroposterior (p = 0.015) acceleration across environments and epochs. Older adults without a fall history exhibited a slower peak mediolateral reaction during the moving hazard (p = 0.014) than those with a fall history. These results suggest that compared to older adults with a fall history, older adults without a fall history are more adaptable and able to respond last-minute to unexpected hazards. Older adults with a fall history exhibited more homogenous responses.

Asymmetric cortical activation in healthy and hemiplegic individuals during walking: A functional near-infrared spectroscopy neuroimaging study.

This study investigated the cortical activation mechanism underlying locomotor control during healthy and hemiplegic walking. A total of eight healthy individuals with right leg dominance (male patients, 75%; mean age, 40.06 ± 4.53 years) and six post-stroke patients with right hemiplegia (male patients, 86%; mean age, 44.41 ± 7.23 years; disease course, 5.21 ± 2.63 months) completed a walking task at a treadmill speed of 2 km/h and a functional electrical stimulation (FES)-assisted walking task, respectively. Functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) was used to detect hemodynamic changes in neuronal activity in the bilateral sensorimotor cortex (SMC), supplementary motor area (SMA), and premotor cortex (PMC). fNIRS cortical mapping showed more SMC-PMC-SMA locomotor network activation during hemiplegic walking than during healthy gait. Furthermore, more SMA and PMC activation in the affected hemisphere was observed during the FES-assisted hemiplegic walking task than during the non-FES-assisted task. The laterality index indicated asymmetric cortical activation during hemiplegic gait, with relatively greater activation in the unaffected (right) hemisphere during hemiplegic gait than during healthy walking. During hemiplegic walking, the SMC and SMA were predominantly activated in the unaffected hemisphere, whereas the PMC was predominantly activated in the affected hemisphere. No significant differences in the laterality index were noted between the other groups and regions (p > 0.05). An important feature of asymmetric cortical activation was found in patients with post-stroke during the walking process, which was the recruitment of more SMC-SMA-PMC activation than in healthy individuals. Interestingly, there was no significant lateralized activation during hemiplegic walking with FES assistance, which would seem to indicate that FES may help hemiplegic walking recover the balance in cortical activation. These results, which are worth verifying through additional research, suggest that FES used as a potential therapeutic strategy may play an important role in motor recovery after stroke.

Molecular taxonomy of nociceptors and pruriceptors.

Molecular taxonomy of nociceptors and pruriceptors.

Association between balance confidence and basic walking abilities in people with unilateral transtibial lower-limb amputations: A cross-sectional study.

Falls are common for people with lower-limb amputations (PLLA). Low balance confidence is also prevalent, is worse in PLLA not reporting walking automaticity, and is known to negatively affect prosthesis use, social engagement, and quality of life. Moreover, walking with a prosthesis requires continuous attention. Low balance confidence may act as a distractor imposing an additional cognitive load on the already cognitively demanding task of walking with a prosthesis. Adults with unilateral, transtibial amputations were recruited. The Activities-specific Balance Confidence (ABC) scale quantified balance confidence. The L Test assessed basic walking abilities under single-task (ST) (usual) and dual-task (DT) (walking while counting backwards) conditions. The relative change in gait and secondary task performance between conditions (ie, DT cost) was calculated. Separate multivariable linear regressions examined the association of balance confidence on the L Test. Forty-four PLLA (56.6 ± 12.6 years) participated. An independent association of the ABC to ST ( P < 0.001, R 2 = 0.56) and DT ( P = 0.008, R 2 = 0.43) L Test performance was observed. A 1% ABC increase was related with a 0.24 (95% confidence interval, 0.35-0.14) and 0.23 (95% confidence interval, 0.39-0.06) second reduction with the ST and DT L Test, respectively. No association to DT cost was observed. Balance confidence influences basic walking abilities yet does not modulate the added cognitive load associated with DT. Interventions that address balance confidence may be beneficial throughout rehabilitation. This research is novel and offers the possibility for alternative avenues for focus in rehabilitation and falls prevention in a population at high risk for falls.

Influence of Auditory Information on Postural Control During Different Gait Tasks in the Elderly.

Hearing loss is frequently associated with reduced postural control. This is possibly not only related to simultaneous pathophysiological changes within the hearing and vestibular system. The auditory input itself could provide helpful information for maintaining postural control. Previous studies of our group already showed that continuous or interrupted white noise can significantly improve postural control during gait conditions in young healthy individuals. The present study aimed at investigating if those effects are also active in the elderly. Elderly volunteers (mean age 67 years) without any history of disorders to influence gait performance successfully completed 5 walking tasks under 4 different acoustic conditions. Angular sway velocity was measured close to the center of gravity with the Vertiguard® system. Significant changes in body sway velocity were found in 4 of 5 investigated tasks. Only "walking with turning head in rhythm" was not associated with any change in the acoustic input. The sway increased by 8.9% during "walking with open eyes" in the pitch direction and by 11.5% during "tandem walking" in the roll direction if ear protection was applied. The sway was reduced by 9.1% during "walking over barriers" in the pitch direction and by 16.7% in the roll direction during "walking with closed eyes" if a stationary source of continuous white noise was presented. The data of the present study indicate that auditory information could significantly alter postural control during walking in the elderly. Continuous white noise seems to be helpful for maintaining balance in different walking tasks.

Neuroprotective effects of pre-ischemic exercise are linked to expression of NT-3/NT-4 and TrkB/TrkC in rats

Introduction and objectiveStroke causes irreversible damage, particularly to the hippocampus. Evidence suggests that exercise training may mitigate adverse structural and functional consequences of an ischemic lesion in the brain. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of preconditioning exercise on expression of neurotrophic factor genes and proteins in hippocampalCA1 region and their relationship with sensorimotor recovery following global ischemia/reperfusion (Is/Re) injury in a rat model of stroke. MethodsMale Wistar rats were randomly assigned to Exercise+Ischemia/Reperfusion (Ex+Is/Re),Control+Ischemia/Reperfusion (Co+Is/Re), and Sham treatments. Rats in the exercise groups ran on a treadmill for 45 min/d for five days/week for 8 consecutive weeks prior to Is/Re lesion.Ischemia was induced by common carotid artery occlusion (CCAO). The ladder rung walking task was used to assess functional impairments and recovery following ischemic lesion.Tissue from hippocampal area CA1 was inspected for ischemia-induced cell loss and gene and protein expression linked to neurotrophins NT-3, NT-4, and their receptorsTrkB and TrkC. ResultsCCAO caused hippocampal cell death in CA1 and resulted in significant sensori motor impairments in the ladder rung walking task. In contrast, pre-ischemic exercise considerably reduced cell death and supported sensorimotor recovery following CCAO.In addition, NT-3, NT-4,TrkB and TrkC gene expression and their protein levels were significantly increased inthe Ex+Is/Re group compared to Co+Is/Re (p < 0.05). ConclusionThe findings showed that pre-ischemic exercise can exert neuroprotective effects via NT-3 and NT-4 pathways against ischemia in hippocampal CA1 neurons and promote post-injury sensorimotor recovery.

Engineering morphological development in a robotic bipedal walking problem: An empirical study

In living beings, the natural development of the body has been shown to facilitate learning. The application of these natural developmental principles in robotics have been considered in different robotic morphologies and scenarios, leading to mixed results. Development was found to be beneficial for learning in some instances, but also irrelevant or detrimental in others. This mix of results and scenarios has allowed researchers to extract some notions about the conditions that must be fulfilled or set to apply morphological development successfully. Notions that we have organized to set a series of design conditions to successfully apply morphological development. Thus, in this article, we are going to focus on the study of one of them that has been frequently addressed by researchers in their studies in very general terms. It can be described as the need to achieve a suitable synergy among the different components involved in the development and learning process: morphological development strategy, controller, task, and learning algorithm. In particular, we have concentrated on empirically determining the influence of five developmental strategies, implemented in different ways, applied at different speeds and deployed in different orders and combinations, over the problem of a NAO robot controlled by an artificial neural network obtained through a neuroevolutionary algorithm learning a bipedal walking task. The results obtained permit providing a more detailed description of what a suitable synergy implies and how it can be utilized to design more successful morphological developmental processes to improve robot learning.

Motion Analysis of Balance Pre and Post Sensorimotor Exercises to Enhance Elderly Mobility: A Case Study.

Quantitative assessment of movement using motion capture provides insights on mobility which are not evident from clinical evaluation. Here, in older individuals that were healthy or had suffered a stroke, we aimed to investigate their balance in terms of changes in body kinematics and muscle activity. Our research question involved determining the effects on post- compared to pre-sensorimotor training exercises on maintaining or improving balance. Our research hypothesis was that training would improve the gait and balance by increasing joint angles and extensor muscle activities in lower extremities and spatiotemporal measures of stroke and elderly people. This manuscript describes a motion capture-based evaluation protocol to assess joint angles and spatiotemporal parameters (cadence, step length and walking speed), as well as major extensor and flexor muscle activities. We also conducted a case study on a healthy older participant (male, age, 65) and an older participant with chronic stroke (female, age, 55). Both participants performed a walking task along a path with a rectangular shape which included tandem walking forward, right side stepping, tandem walking backward, left side stepping to the starting location. For the stroke participant, the training improved the task completion time by 19 s. Her impaired left leg had improved step length (by 0.197 m) and cadence (by 10 steps/min) when walking forward, and cadence (by 12 steps/min) when walking backward. The non-impaired right leg improved cadence when walking forward (by 15 steps/min) and backward (by 27 steps/min). The joint range of motion (ROM) did not change in most cases. However, the ROM of the hip joint increased significantly by 5.8 degrees (p = 0.019) on the left leg side whereas the ROMs of hip joint and knee joint increased significantly by 4.1 degrees (p = 0.046) and 8.1 degrees (p = 0.007) on the right leg side during backward walking. For the healthy participant, the significant changes were only found in his right knee joint ROM having increased by 4.2 degrees (p = 0.031) and in his left ankle joint ROM having increased by 5.5 degrees (p = 0.006) during the left side stepping.

Evaluating the immediate effect of the speed alteration task on walking stability using the Timed Up and Go test.

[Purpose] This study aimed to investigate how the speed alteration task, which gradually increases or conversely decreases walking speed, affected walking stability. [Participants and Methods] Thirteen healthy young adults performed two walking tasks as follows: the speed alteration task, in which the walking speed was gradually increased or decreased, and the speed constant task, in which the walking speed was maintained at a comfortable level. Before and after each task, the Timed Up and Go test was performed to analyze time, walking speed, and trajectory. The overall score of the Timed Up and Go test, as well as the scores of the three major segments (i.e., forward, turning around, and return), and nine subsegments, were calculated and analyzed. [Results] During the speed alteration task, parameters including time and walking speed of the Timed Up and Go test were significantly improved. Also, the same parameters increased significantly in the forward and return segments. These increases were also observed in the first subsegment of the forward segment and the second subsegment of the return segment. [Conclusion] The speed alteration task improved walking stability, so it could be used in gait training to improve walking stability.

A Vision-Based Framework for Predicting Multiple Sclerosis and Parkinson's Disease Gait Dysfunctions - A Deep Learning Approach.

This study examined the effectiveness of a vision-based framework for multiple sclerosis (MS) and Parkinson's disease (PD) gait dysfunction prediction. We collected gait video data from multi-view digital cameras during self-paced walking from MS, PD patients and age, weight, height and gender-matched healthy older adults (HOA). We then extracted characteristic 3D joint keypoints from the collected videos. In this work, we proposed a data-driven methodology to classify strides in persons with MS (PwMS), persons with PD (PwPD) and HOA that may generalize across different walking tasks and subjects. We presented a comprehensive quantitative comparison of 16 diverse traditional machine and deep learning (DL) algorithms. When generalizing from comfortable walking (W) to walking-while-talking (WT), multi-scale residual neural network achieved perfect accuracy and AUC for classifying individuals with a given gait disorder; for subject generalization in W trials, residual neural network resulted in the highest accuracy and AUC of 78.1% and 0.87 (resp.), and 1D convolutional neural network (CNN) had highest accuracy of 75% in WT trials. Finally, when generalizing over new subjects in different tasks, again 1D CNN had the top classification accuracy and AUC of 79.3% and 0.93 (resp.). This work is the first attempt to apply and demonstrate the potential of DL with a multi-view digital camera-based gait analysis framework for neurological gait dysfunction prediction. This study suggests the viability of inexpensive vision-based systems for diagnosing certain neurological disorders.