@article{ref1,
title="Intra-limb and muscular coordination during walking on slopes",
journal="European journal of applied physiology",
year="2020",
author="Dewolf, Arthur H. and Mesquita, Raphael M. and Willems, Patrick A.",
volume="ePub",
number="ePub",
pages="ePub-ePub",
abstract="PURPOSE: Intra-limb and muscular coordination during gait are the result of the organisation of the neuromuscular system, which have been widely studied on a flat terrain. Environmental factors, such as the inclination of the terrain, is a challenge for the postural control system to maintain balance. Therefore, we hypothesised that the central nervous system flexibly modifies its control strategies during locomotion on slopes.   METHODS: Ten subjects walked on an inclined treadmill at different slopes (from - 9° to + 9°) and speeds (from 0.56 to 2.22 m s-1). Intra-limb coordination was investigated via the Continuous Relative Phase, whereas muscular coordination was investigated by decomposing the coordinated muscle activation profiles into Basic Activation Patterns.   RESULTS: A greater stride to stride variability of kinematics was observed during walking on slopes, as compared to walking on the level. On positive slopes, the stride period and width present a greater variability without modification of the time-pattern of the muscular activation and of the variability of intersegmental coordination. On negative slopes, the stride width is larger, the variability of the stride period and of the inter-segmental coordination is greater and the basic activation patterns become broader, especially at slow speeds.   CONCLUSION: Our findings suggest that the control strategy of downhill walking corresponds to a more conservative gait pattern, which could be adopted to lower the risk of falling at the cost of a greater energy consumption. In uphill walking, where metabolic demands are high, the strategy adopted may be planned to minimise energy expenditure.<p /> <p>Language: en</p>",
language="en",
issn="1439-6319",
doi="10.1007/s00421-020-04415-4",
url="http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s00421-020-04415-4"
}