Oliveira Anderson S, Schlink Bryan R, Hairston W David, König Peter, Ferris Daniel P
Human Neuromechanics Laboratory, School of Kinesiology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan;
Department of Materials and Production, Aalborg University, Aalborg, Denmark.
J Neurophysiol. 2017 Oct 1;118(4):1943-1951. doi: 10.1152/jn.00926.2016. Epub 2017 Jul 5.
This study aimed to determine whether there is electrocortical evidence of augmented participation of sensory brain areas in walking modulation during walking with eyes closed. Healthy subjects ( = 10) walked on a treadmill at 1 m/s while alternating 5 min of walking with the eyes open or closed while we recorded ground reaction forces (GRFs) and high-density scalp electroencephalography (EEG). We applied independent component analysis to parse EEG signals into maximally independent component (IC) processes and then computed equivalent current dipoles for each IC. We clustered cortical source ICs and analyzed event-related spectral perturbations synchronized to gait events. Our results indicated that walking with eyes closed reduced the first peak of the vertical GRFs and induced shorter stride duration. Regarding the EEG, we found that walking with eyes closed induced significantly increased relative theta desynchronization in the frontal and premotor cortex during stance, as well as greater desynchronization from theta to beta bands during transition to single support for both left and right somatosensory cortex. These results suggest a phase-specific increased participation of brain areas dedicated to sensory processing and integration when vision is not available for locomotor guidance. Furthermore, the lack of vision demands higher neural processing related to motor planning and execution. Our findings provide evidence supporting the use of eyes-closed tasks in clinical practice, such as gait rehabilitation and improvements in balance control, as there is higher demand for additional sensory integration for achieving postural control. We measured electrocortical dynamics in sighted individuals while walking with eyes open and eyes closed to induce the participation of other sensory systems in postural control. Our findings show that walking with visual restriction increases the participation of brain areas dedicated to sensory processing, motor planning, and execution. These results confirm the essential participation of supraspinal inputs to postural control in human locomotion, supporting the use of eyes-closed tasks in clinical practice.
本研究旨在确定在闭眼行走过程中，感觉脑区在行走调节中增强参与是否存在脑电证据。10名健康受试者在跑步机上以1米/秒的速度行走，交替进行5分钟睁眼或闭眼行走，同时我们记录地面反作用力（GRFs）和高密度头皮脑电图（EEG）。我们应用独立成分分析将EEG信号解析为最大独立成分（IC）过程，然后为每个IC计算等效电流偶极子。我们对皮质源IC进行聚类，并分析与步态事件同步的事件相关频谱扰动。我们的结果表明，闭眼行走会降低垂直GRFs的第一个峰值，并导致步幅持续时间缩短。关于EEG，我们发现闭眼行走会在站立期导致额叶和运动前皮质中相对θ去同步化显著增加，并且在左右体感皮质过渡到单支撑期时，从θ频段到β频段的去同步化程度更大。这些结果表明，当视觉无法用于运动引导时，专门用于感觉处理和整合的脑区在特定阶段的参与增加。此外，缺乏视觉需要更高的与运动计划和执行相关的神经处理。我们的研究结果提供了证据，支持在临床实践中使用闭眼任务，如步态康复和平衡控制改善，因为实现姿势控制需要额外的感觉整合。我们测量了有视力个体在睁眼和闭眼行走时的脑电动力学，以诱导其他感觉系统参与姿势控制。我们的研究结果表明，视觉受限行走会增加专门用于感觉处理、运动计划和执行的脑区的参与。这些结果证实了脊髓上输入在人类运动姿势控制中的重要参与，支持在临床实践中使用闭眼任务。
