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Related Experiment Video

Updated: Feb 13, 2026

Applications of EEG Neuroimaging Data: Event-related Potentials, Spectral Power, and Multiscale Entropy

Applications of EEG Neuroimaging Data: Event-related Potentials, Spectral Power, and Multiscale Entropy

Published on: June 27, 2013

Changes of human movement complexity during maturation: quantitative assessment using multiscale entropy.

M C Bisi¹, R Stagni¹

¹a Department of Electrical, Electronic and Information Engineering "Guglielmo Marconi" , University of Bologna , Bologna , Italy.

Computer Methods in Biomechanics and Biomedical Engineering

|March 10, 2018

Summary

Movement complexity, measured by Multiscale Entropy (MSE), increases with age during challenging tandem walking but decreases during automatic natural walking, revealing task-specific developmental changes.

Keywords:

Multiscale entropy complexity of movement motor control maturation sample entropy

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Last Updated: Feb 13, 2026

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Area of Science:

Biomechanical analysis
Human movement science
Developmental kinesiology

Background:

Movement complexity, the ability to use varied strategies for tasks, is expected to rise with maturation.
Multiscale Entropy (MSE) quantifies signal complexity across time scales, applied here to trunk acceleration.
Previous studies showed decreasing MSE with age during natural walking (NW), possibly due to increased gait automaticity.

Purpose of the Study:

To test if the decrease in MSE during NW is task-dependent and related to automaticity.
To investigate movement complexity changes across maturation using a non-paradigmatic task (tandem walking, TW).

Main Methods:

Trunk acceleration data were collected from children, adolescents, and young adults during both TW and NW.
Multiscale Entropy (MSE) was calculated for kinematic signals from both walking tasks.
Age-related changes in MSE were analyzed for TW and NW, particularly on the sagittal plane.

Main Results:

MSE significantly increased with age during tandem walking (TW), supporting the hypothesis of increasing complexity.
MSE decreased with age during natural walking (NW), consistent with increased gait automaticity.
Sagittal plane MSE in NW was approximately half that of TW in adults, highlighting task-specific complexity differences.

Conclusions:

Multiscale Entropy (MSE) is sensitive to age-related changes in movement complexity.
The observed decrease in MSE during NW is likely due to increased gait automaticity, not a lack of developmental complexity.
Tandem walking (TW) serves as a better reference for assessing maturation-related increases in movement complexity.