Amble Gait EEG Points at Complementary Cortical Networks Underlying Stereotypic Multi-Limb Co-ordination
Joyce B Weersink1, Natasha M Maurits1, Bauke M de Jong1
1Department of Neurology, University Medical Center Groningen, University of Groningen, Groningen, Netherlands.
Frontiers in Human Neuroscience
|August 20, 2021
Summary
Altering limb coordination during walking changes brain activity. Complex gait patterns recruit right-hemisphere networks, suggesting these regions support motor control and adaptability in humans.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Human Motor Control
- Gait Biomechanics
Background:
- Human walking typically involves stable, opposing movements of upper and lower limbs.
- These rhythmic patterns are controlled by spinal cord and brain stem networks connected to cortical areas like the Supplementary Motor Area (SMA).
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate brain activity during human gait by altering the coordination between upper and lower limb movements.
- To explore how manipulating limb phase relations affects cerebral activity.
Main Methods:
- Assessed cortical activity using ambulatory electroencephalography (EEG) and gait using accelerometers and video recordings.
- Analyzed 35 participants walking normally and 19 in an amble gait (in-phase limb movements).
- Used Event Related Spectral Perturbation (ERSP) for EEG analysis and gait analysis.
Main Results:
- Amble gait showed increased Event Related Desynchronization (ERD) before and during the left swing phase.
- This ERD was most prominent over the right premotor, primary motor, and parietal cortex, indicating right-hemisphere dominance.
- Reduced Event Related Synchronization (ERS) occurred in later swing phases, suggesting a more stride-driven pattern.
Conclusions:
- Increased complexity in four-limb coordination during gait engages brain networks beyond the primary motor cortex, predominantly in the right hemisphere.
- This suggests a role for these cortical regions in supporting complex motor behaviors.
- Findings align with observations in Parkinson's disease, highlighting compensatory roles of parietal-premotor areas.
