Artemiadis Panagiotis K, Krebs Hermano Igo
Department of Mechanical Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, USA.
Annu Int Conf IEEE Eng Med Biol Soc. 2011;2011:1571-4. doi: 10.1109/IEMBS.2011.6090457.
Human locomotion is based on the finely tuned coordination of the two legs. For this research, we studied the contribution of interlimb pathways for coordinating and synchronizing the legs' motion in the case where body weight is externally supported and vestibular feedback is limited. The experiments were conducted using a novel device intended for gait therapy: the MIT-Skywalker. The subject's body weight was supported by an underneath saddle-like seat, and a chest harness was used to provide stabilization of the torso. Two neurologically healthy individuals were asked to walk on the MIT-Skywalker, while one side of its split belt treadmill was unexpectedly dropped during the perturbed leg stance phase. Leg kinematics are reported as well as the effect of the timing of perturbation on the unperturbed leg. Presented here are the phase-response curves (PRCs) for both legs. We found that unilateral perturbations evoked responses at the contralateral limb, while the timing of the activation played a significant role in those responses.
人类的运动基于双腿的精细协调。在本研究中，我们研究了在体重由外部支撑且前庭反馈受限的情况下，肢体间通路对协调和同步腿部运动的贡献。实验使用了一种用于步态治疗的新型设备：麻省理工学院空中步行器（MIT-Skywalker）。受试者的体重由下方类似马鞍的座椅支撑，并用胸部安全带稳定躯干。两名神经系统健康的个体被要求在MIT-Skywalker上行走，在受干扰的腿部站立阶段，其分体式皮带跑步机的一侧意外下降。报告了腿部运动学以及扰动时间对未受干扰腿部的影响。这里展示的是双腿的相位响应曲线（PRC）。我们发现单侧扰动会在对侧肢体引发反应，而激活时间在这些反应中起着重要作用。
