Effect on gait of motor task learning acquired in a sitting position

The purpose of this study was to ascertain the importance of learning a motor task in a sitting position and its influence on gait. Thirty-one healthy subjects, divided into three groups, were asked to learn a synchronous heel-up-heel-down rhythm task in a sitting position and to reproduce the rhythm during their gait cycle on three separate occasions over a three-day period. This study provided evidence that training of a subject in a sitting position produced a nonspecific influence during ambulation. The inability to obtain an exact transfer of learning from a sitting position to gait and its implication to the specificity principle of learning are discussed. Some subjects had difficulty maintaining their performance over the three-day period. This finding was attributed in part to the influence of proactive and retroactive inhibition. Mat activities, therefore, seem to have a very limited impact on modifying gait. The clinical implications of these findings are presented.