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Evidence for a disorder of locomotor timing in Huntington's disease
Belinda Bilney1, Meg E Morris, Andrew Churchyard
1School of Physiotherapy, La Trobe University, Victoria, Australia. b.bilney@latrobe.edu.au
Insights
People with Huntington's disease (HD) exhibit significant gait timing regulation deficits. This includes reduced step frequency, increased cadence variability, and difficulty synchronizing footsteps, impacting walking ability.
Area of Science:
- Neurology
- Gait Analysis
- Movement Disorders
Background:
- Huntington's disease (HD) is known to cause walking disturbances.
- The specific nature of these gait deficits, particularly in footstep timing regulation, remains poorly defined.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate footstep timing regulation deficits in individuals with Huntington's disease (HD).
- To quantify gait parameters including speed, cadence, stride length, and double limb support during various walking conditions.
Main Methods:
- Compared gait patterns of 30 individuals with HD and 30 matched controls.
- Measured gait at self-selected slow, preferred, and fast speeds.
- Assessed footstep synchronization to auditory metronome cues (80 and 120 bpm) using a computerized foot-switch system.
Main Results:
- Individuals with HD showed impaired cadence regulation, with reduced step frequency at preferred and fast speeds.
- Increased variability in footstep cadence was observed across all conditions in the HD group.
- The HD group demonstrated difficulty synchronizing footsteps to auditory cues and had reduced stride length.
Conclusions:
- Individuals with Huntington's disease have a distinct disorder in footstep timing regulation.
- This disorder is characterized by increased variability, restricted cadence range, impaired auditory cue synchronization, and reduced stride length.
- The precise neural mechanisms underlying this gait timing disorder require further investigation.
Abstract:
Disturbances of walking have been described in people with Huntington's disease (HD), although the nature of the deficits have not yet been well defined. The purpose of this investigation was to determine whether people with HD have a deficit in the regulation of footstep timing during walking. The footstep patterns of 30 people with HD and 30 matched comparisons were measured at self-selected slow, preferred, and fast speeds. Subjects were also instructed to match their footsteps to auditory metronome cues set at 80 and 120 beats per minute. Gait speed, cadence, stride length, and double limb support as a percentage of the gait cycle were measured using a computerized foot-switch system. People with HD demonstrated a disorder in their ability to regulate cadence, manifest as a reduced step frequency when walking at preferred speed and when required to increase their speed. For all walking conditions, people with HD had increased variability of footstep cadence. They also had difficulty synchronizing their footstep timing to an auditory cue. For all walking conditions, people with HD had reduced stride length. Thus, in HD, there is a disorder in the regulation of footstep timing, with increased variability, a restricted cadence range, difficulty synchronizing footsteps to an auditory cue and reduced stride length. The exact neural correlates of this timing disorder are yet to be determined.
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