Adlou Bahman, Wadsworth Danielle, Grace John L, Kosek Jerad, Wilburn Christopher, Weimar Wendi
School of Kinesiology, Auburn University, Auburn, AL, USA.
School of Health Sciences, University of Evansville, Evansville, IN, USA.
Exp Brain Res. 2025 Mar 24;243(4):100. doi: 10.1007/s00221-025-07048-1.
Emotional states significantly influence human movement, yet specific relationships between naturally occurring moods and gait parameters remain poorly understood. This study investigated how naturally occurring mood states affect gait characteristics in young adults (n = 16), accounting for time-of-day variations and individual-level differences. Participants completed mood assessments and instrumented gait analysis across five sessions throughout an academic semester. Principal component analysis identified five distinct gait domains (phase, variability, rhythmicity, temporal, and spatial), explaining 84.67% of total variance. Linear mixed-effects models with random intercepts showed that negative moods distinctly affected temporal (β = 0.675, p = 0.012) and spatial (β = 0.522, p = 0.045) components, with anger and shame prolonging temporal measures and guilt and shame increasing spatial variability. Conversely, happiness shortened temporal measures (β=-0.568) and reduced spatial variability (β=-0.683), suggesting a stabilizing effect on gait dynamics. Substantial inter-individual variability emerged in phase organization (4.870), underscoring unique baseline differences in emotion-gait coupling. Morning sessions exhibited significantly faster gait speed (mean = 1.577 ± 0.296 m/s) and longer step lengths (mean = 80.070 ± 10.767 cm) compared to afternoon sessions (gait speed: mean = 1.311 ± 0.107 m/s; step length: mean = 71.903 ± 5.325 cm; p < 0.001). These findings confirm that distinct mood states elicit domain-specific gait changes and highlight the importance of circadian and individual factors for understanding embodied cognition and refining clinical gait assessments.
情绪状态会显著影响人类运动，但自然发生的情绪与步态参数之间的具体关系仍知之甚少。本研究调查了自然发生的情绪状态如何影响年轻人（n = 16）的步态特征，同时考虑了一天中的时间变化和个体差异。参与者在一个学术学期的五个时间段内完成了情绪评估和仪器化步态分析。主成分分析确定了五个不同的步态领域（相位、变异性、节律性、时间和空间），解释了总方差的84.67%。具有随机截距的线性混合效应模型表明，负面情绪对时间（β = 0.675，p = 0.012）和空间（β = 0.522，p = 0.045）成分有明显影响，愤怒和羞耻会延长时间测量值，内疚和羞耻会增加空间变异性。相反，快乐会缩短时间测量值（β = -0.568）并降低空间变异性（β = -0.683），表明对步态动力学有稳定作用。在相位组织方面出现了显著的个体间差异（4.870），强调了情绪 - 步态耦合中独特的基线差异。与下午的时间段相比，上午的时间段表现出明显更快的步态速度（平均 = 1.577 ± 0.296米/秒）和更长的步长（平均 = 80.070 ± 10.767厘米）（步态速度：平均 = 1.311 ± 0.107米/秒；步长：平均 = 71.903 ± 5.325厘米；p < 0.001）。这些发现证实了不同的情绪状态会引发特定领域的步态变化，并强调了昼夜节律和个体因素对于理解具身认知和完善临床步态评估的重要性。
