The interplay between strategic and adaptive control mechanisms in plastic recalibration of locomotor function

We have previously shown that viewing simulated rotary self-motion during treadmill locomotion causes immediate strategic modifications (Richards et al. in Presence Teleoper Vir Real 13:371-384, 2004) as well as an after effect reflecting adaptive modification of the control of position and trajectory during over-ground locomotion (Mulavara et al. in Exp Brain Res 166:210-219, 2005). The process of sensorimotor adaptation is comprised of both strategic and adaptive control mechanisms. Strategic control involves cognitive, on-line corrections to motor outputs once one is aware of a sensory discordance. Over an extended period of exposure to the sensory discordance, new strategic sensorimotor coordination patterns are reinforced until they become more automatic, and therefore adaptive in nature. The objective of this study was to investigate how strategic changes in trunk control during exposure to simulated rotary self-motion during treadmill walking influences adaptive modification of locomotor heading direction during over-ground stepping. Subjects (n = 10) walked on a motorized linear treadmill while viewing a wide field-of-view virtual scene for 24 min. The scene was static for the first 4 min and then, for the last 20 min, depicted constant rate self-motion equivalent to walking in a counter-clockwise, circular path around the perimeter of a room. Subjects performed five stepping trials both before and after the exposure period to assess after effects. Results from our previous study showed a significant change in heading direction (HD) during post-exposure step tests that was opposite to the direction in which the scene rotated during the adaptation period. For the present study, we quantified strategic modifications in trunk movement control during scene exposure using normalized root mean square (R(P)) variation of the subject's 3D trunk positions and normalized sum of standard deviations (R (O)) variation of 3D trunk orientations during scene rotation relative to that during static scene presentation. Associated 95% confidence intervals, CI(P) and CI(O), were calculated to investigate the variation of strategic modifications during scene exposure. Repeated measures ANOVA and individual subject regression analyses showed that R(P) and R(O) (i.e. strategic modifications) for trunk fore/aft (X) positions and yaw rotations, respectively, decreased significantly over the exposure period. Furthermore, we found a significant correlation between the magnitude change in HD and the rate at which the variation of strategic modifications in trunk X decreased. We also found evidence of a correlation between HD and the rate at which strategic modifications in trunk yaw decreased. We infer that adaptive recalibration of locomotor trajectory using optic flow stimuli depends on the rate at which kinematic variability associated with strategic control is reduced.