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Updated: Jul 3, 2025

Asymmetric Walkway: A Novel Behavioral Assay for Studying Asymmetric Locomotion
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Optimization of modularity during development to simplify walking control across multiple steps.

Elodie Hinnekens1,2, Bastien Berret1,2, Estelle Morard1,2

  • 1Université Paris-Saclay, CIAMS, Orsay, France.

Frontiers in Neural Circuits
|February 12, 2024
PubMed
Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

Toddlers exhibit greater motor variability and require more modules for walking compared to adults, indicating evolving motor control during development. This variability may reflect exploration rather than compensatory mechanisms in early walkers.

Keywords:
developmentmodularitymuscle synergiestoddlersvariabilitywalking

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Area of Science:

  • Motor Control
  • Developmental Neuroscience
  • Biomechanics

Background:

  • Adult walking is characterized by modular control, minimizing the degrees of freedom regulated by the central nervous system (CNS).
  • Toddler walking also appears modular but exhibits high stride-to-stride variability, with the interplay between variability and modularity unclear.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the modular organization of walking in toddlers compared to adults.
  • To determine if motor variability in toddlers during walking is centrally or peripherally regulated.

Main Methods:

  • Electromyographic (EMG) activity of 10 lower limb muscles was recorded in 12 adults and 12 toddlers over 8 gait cycles.
  • Non-negative matrix factorization (Space-by-Time Decomposition) was used to model modular control, comparing averaged and non-averaged data.
  • Toddlers were tested walking independently and supported by an adult to assess the impact of reduced balance constraints.

Main Results:

  • Toddlers displayed significantly higher stride-to-stride variability than adults in both independent and supported walking conditions.
  • More modules were required to account for toddler variability, with module activations being less consistent across strides compared to adults.
  • This increased variability and modularity persisted in toddlers even when balance constraints were reduced.

Conclusions:

  • The modular control of locomotion evolves significantly from toddlerhood to adulthood through practice and development.
  • Adults utilize a more parsimonious modular strategy for walking compared to toddlers.
  • Toddler variability, even with lowered balance constraints, suggests a role in motor exploration rather than solely corrective mechanisms.