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Asymmetric Walkway: A Novel Behavioral Assay for Studying Asymmetric Locomotion

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Gait transition dynamics are modulated by concurrent cognitive activity.

Mohammad Abdolvahab¹

¹Center for the Ecological Study of Perception and Action, Department of Psychology, University of Connecticut, 406 Babbidge Rd, Storrs, CT, 06269, USA. mohammad.abdolvahab@uconn.edu.

Attention, Perception & Psychophysics

|June 21, 2015

Summary

This summary is machine-generated.

Cognitive load increases behavioral hysteresis in gait transitions. Difficult cognitive tasks, like counting backwards, lower the speed at which people switch from running to walking, widening the hysteresis gap.

Keywords:

Dual-task methodology Dynamical systems Gait transition Hysteresis

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Area of Science:

Human motor control
Cognitive psychology
Biophysics

Background:

Behavioral hysteresis is observed when transition points differ based on the direction of change in a control parameter.
Gait transitions, such as walking to running, exhibit hysteresis, with higher speeds for walk-to-run than run-to-walk transitions.
Concurrent cognitive activity may influence motor control and decision-making processes.

Purpose of the Study:

To investigate whether concurrent cognitive activity affects behavioral hysteresis in human gait transitions.
To determine if cognitive load influences the walk-to-run and run-to-walk transition speeds.

Main Methods:

Participants performed gait transitions (walking/running) on a treadmill with controlled acceleration/deceleration.
Cognitive load was manipulated by having participants count backwards by ones, by sevens, or not at all.
Hysteresis was quantified as the difference between walk-to-run and run-to-walk transition speeds.

Main Results:

The degree of behavioral hysteresis increased with the difficulty of the concurrent cognitive task.
Specifically, more difficult cognitive tasks led to lower run-to-walk transition speeds.
No significant effect was observed on walk-to-run transition speeds.

Conclusions:

Cognitive load significantly impacts behavioral hysteresis in gait transitions.
Attentional resources are likely occupied by cognitive tasks, affecting the motor control needed for gait adjustments.
These findings support the hypothesis that cognitive load influences the triggering of human gait transitions.