Running gait produces long range correlations: A systematic review

Area of Science:

• Biomechanics
• Human Locomotion
• Dynamical Systems

Background:

• Human gait, including walking and running, exhibits variability over time.
• Long-range correlations (LRCs) are a characteristic of healthy gait, indicating positive correlations in stride times.
• While LRCs in walking are well-documented, less research exists on LRCs in running gait.

Purpose of the Study:

• To systematically review the current state of knowledge on LRCs in human running gait.
• To identify typical LRC patterns in running.
• To examine the effects of disease, injury, and running surfaces on LRCs.

Main Methods:

• Systematic review of scientific literature.
• Inclusion criteria: human subjects, running experiments, LRC analysis, experimental design.
• Exclusion criteria: animal studies, walking-only studies, non-LRC analysis, non-experimental studies.

Main Results:

• Strong evidence supports the presence of LRCs in running gait across various surfaces.
• LRCs tend to decrease with fatigue, past injury, and increased load carriage.
• LRCs appear lowest at preferred running speeds on treadmills.

Conclusions:

• LRCs in running gait are influenced by factors such as speed, fatigue, and injury history.
• Deviations from preferred running speed may increase LRCs.
• Further research is required to understand LRCs in overground running and their transferability from treadmill studies.