Human Gait Entrainment to Periodic Neuro-Mechanical Perturbations: An Emerging Approach to Understanding Locomotion

Area of Science:

• Biomechanics
• Neuroscience
• Robotics

Background:

• Human gait is a complex, rhythmic behavior exhibiting synchronization to external rhythms.
• Gait entrainment, a form of synchronization, occurs when gait rhythm converges with external periodic stimuli via mechanical coupling.
• Understanding gait entrainment is crucial for advancing human motor control and developing gait rehabilitation technologies.

Purpose of the Study:

• To consolidate current knowledge on gait entrainment in response to neuro-mechanical perturbations.
• To identify key areas for future research in gait entrainment.

Main Methods:

• This narrative review synthesized existing literature on human gait entrainment.
• Studies examined gait synchronization with various periodic stimuli, including neuro-mechanical perturbations.
• Entrainment was evaluated across multiple strides, considering perturbation magnitude and frequency differences.

Main Results:

• Gait entrainment is sensitive to perturbation magnitude, frequency differences, and their interaction.
• Human gait tends to synchronize with perturbations at a phase that optimizes net mechanical work.
• Varied metrics were used across studies to measure and evaluate entrainment.

Conclusions:

• Future research should focus on advanced coupling models and explore entrainment in diverse gait modalities and clinical populations.
• Gait entrainment offers insights into locomotion and potential benefits of wearable robots in rehabilitation beyond reducing physical effort.