The dynamics of gait transitions: effects of grade and load

Diedrich and Warren (1995a) proposed that gait transitions behave like bifurcations between attractors, with the relative phase of the leg segments as an order parameter and stride frequency and stride length as control parameters. In the present experiments, the authors tested the prediction that manipulation of the attractor layout, either through the addition of load to the ankles or through an increase in the grade of the treadmill, induces corresponding changes in the walk-run transition. As predicted, the load manipulation shifted the most stable walk and the transition to lower stride frequencies. In contrast, the grade manipulation shifted the most stable walk and the transition to shorter stride lengths. Other features of the dynamic theory were also replicated, including enhanced fluctuations of phase and systematic changes in stride length and frequency at the transition. Overall, in these experiments a shift of the attractors in control parameter space yielded a corresponding shift of the transition.