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Anticipatory postural adjustments during multidirectional gait initiation with body turning among healthy young men
Hisanobu Hayashi1, Hidehito Tomita2, Yuta Ogawa3
1Graduate School of Health Sciences, Toyohashi SOZO University, 20-1 Matsushita, Ushikawa-cho, Toyohashi 440-8511, Japan; Department of Physical Therapy, Tokai College of Medical Science, 2-7-2 Meiekiminami, Nakamura-ku, Nagoya 450-0003, Japan.
Background:
Direction-specific modulation in anticipatory postural adjustments (APAs) is reportedly essential to control the step direction of multidirectional gait initiation. Lateral and/or backward step tasks without turning the body while facing forward were adopted by previous studies, although gait initiation toward various directions with body turning is frequently observed in daily activities.
Research Question:
Are APAs during multidirectional gait initiation with body turning modulated with gait directions and enhanced in the directions with larger body rotations?
Methods:
Healthy young men (n = 15) started to walk toward previously instructed directions (forward, forward-right, right, backward-right, and backward) with the right limb at their own timing. The center of pressure (CoP) and center of mass (CoM) during multidirectional gait initiation with body turning were measured using a three-dimensional motion capture system.
Results:
During the APA phase (preceding the onset of the first step), the CoP moved toward the swing limb side and toward the opposite anteroposterior direction to the intended gait direction. As the gait direction became more lateral, the peak CoP displacement during the APA phase decreased. The CoM displacement and velocity at the peak CoP displacement during the APA phase were toward the stance limb side and the anteroposterior gait direction. The peak CoP displacement and the CoM velocity at this peak increased as the turning degree increased.
Significance:
The direction-specific APA modulations may direct the body movement toward the intended direction. Additionally, APA modulation enhancement may maintain stability and help reach the intended speed during gait initiation toward the direction with a larger body rotation.
