Review
Clinical Neurology
Alex C. Dzewaltowski, Erica A. Hedrick, Todd J. Leutzinger, Lindsey E. Remski, Adam B. Rosen
Summary: The meta-analysis found that split-belt treadmill training can significantly improve step length symmetry in individuals poststroke, especially after multiple training sessions and during follow-up evaluations. Randomized controlled trials are needed to confirm the effectiveness of this training method.
NEUROREHABILITATION AND NEURAL REPAIR
(2021)
Article
Clinical Neurology
Pierce Boyne, Sarah Doren, Victoria Scholl, Emily Staggs, Dustyn Whitesel, Daniel Carl, Rhonna Shatz, Russell Sawyer, Oluwole O. Awosika, Darcy S. Reisman, Sandra A. Billinger, Brett Kissela, Jennifer Vannest, Kari Dunning
Summary: The study found that locomotor high-intensity interval training (HIIT) shows promise for stroke rehabilitation, with both overground and treadmill training improving gait function. Future research on locomotor HIIT should consider including measures of cognition, fatigue, and brain volume, and using baseline gait speed as a covariate.
FRONTIERS IN NEUROLOGY
(2022)
Article
Engineering, Biomedical
Christopher McCrum, Anouk W. Vaes, Jeannet M. Delbressine, Maud Koopman, Wai-Yan Liu, Paul Willems, Kenneth Meijer, Martijn A. Spruit
Summary: This study examined the feasibility and initial responses to large walking perturbations in COPD, as well as the adaptation potential of people with COPD to repeated perturbations. The findings suggest that perturbation-based balance training may be considered for fall prevention in COPD.
CLINICAL BIOMECHANICS
(2022)
Article
Clinical Neurology
Matthias Woiczinski, Carolin Lehner, Thekla Esser, Manuel Kistler, Monica Azqueta, Johannes Leukert, Leandra Bauer, Eduard Kraft
Summary: With increasing age, gait changes often occur, leading to mobility problems and a higher risk of falling. This study found that the size of a treadmill may not affect the amplitude of muscle activation during walking, but it may influence gait characteristics such as stride length and cadence.
FRONTIERS IN NEUROLOGY
(2022)
Article
Neurosciences
Madhur Mangalam, Andreas Skiadopoulos, Ka -Chun Siu, Mukul Mukherjee, Aaron Likens, Nick Stergiou
Summary: Increased fall risk in older adults and clinical populations is linked with increased amount and altered temporal structure of step width variability. One approach to rehabilitation seeks to reduce fall risk in older adults by reducing the amount of step width variability and restoring the temporal structure characteristic of healthy young adults. This study investigated how manipulation of the visual walking space in a virtual environment could modulate the amount and temporal structure of step width variability.
NEUROSCIENCE LETTERS
(2023)
Article
Neurosciences
Sattam M. M. Almutairi, Moodhi M. M. Alfouzan, Taghreed S. S. Almutairi, Hatem A. A. Alkaabi, Misoon T. T. AlMulaifi, Marzouq K. K. Almutairi, Faisal K. K. Alhuthaifi, Chad Swank
Summary: This study evaluated the safety and feasibility of using LBPP as a rehabilitation intervention for individuals with chronic stroke. The results showed that LBPP can be safely and effectively used for rehabilitation training in individuals with chronic stroke.
Article
Computer Science, Information Systems
Sanghun Pyo, Hosu Lee, Jungwon Yoon
Summary: To ensure the safety of users on a user-driven treadmill, it is crucial to estimate and converge to the desired walking speed accurately and sensitively. Existing methods have limitations in terms of position robustness due to postural instability issues. In this paper, a new method is proposed to address these limitations and provide users with a more accurate control of the treadmill speed.
Article
Neurosciences
Cesar R. Castano, Lindsey D. Lee, Helen J. Huang
Summary: This study investigated how healthy young and older adults adjust their gait strategies in response to perturbations of varying unpredictability. The findings suggest that more unpredictable perturbations lead to more cautious gait strategies, which are more pronounced in older adults. Additionally, increasing unpredictability demands greater balance control and results in increased variability of step parameters.
Article
Chemistry, Analytical
Andrew C. C. Hagen, Jordan S. S. Acosta, Chaia S. S. Geltser, Brett W. W. Fling
Summary: Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a neurodegenerative disease that causes degradation of the myelin sheath and impaired neural communication. Split-belt treadmill training can improve gait symmetry in MS patients, with those most asymmetrical at baseline showing the greatest improvement. Step length asymmetry (SLA) and phase coordination index (PCI) were used as primary outcome measures to assess spatial and temporal gait symmetries. The study found that MS patients retain the ability for gait adaptation and that spatial and temporal locomotor adjustments may involve separate neural mechanisms.
Article
Clinical Neurology
Oluwole O. Awosika, Dorothy Chan, Bridget A. Rizik, Heidi J. Sucharew, Pierce Boyne, Amit Bhattacharya, Kari Dunning, Brett M. Kissela
Summary: This study aims to investigate the effects of serial BLTT on spatial aspects of backward and forward walking in chronic post-stroke individuals with residual walking impairment. The results show an overall improvement in BLTT and overground walking speeds, bilateral step lengths, and single-support center of pressure distances over six training sessions. Additionally, there were weak positive associations between changes in BLTT speed, BLTT paretic step length, and overground forward walking speed.
FRONTIERS IN NEUROLOGY
(2022)
Article
Veterinary Sciences
Camila Cardoso Diogo, Jose Arthur Camassa, Barbara Fonseca, Luis Maltez da Costa, Jose Eduardo Pereira, Vitor Filipe, Pedro Alexandre Couto, Stefania Raimondo, Paulo A. Armada-da-Silva, Ana Colette Mauricio, Artur S. P. Varejao
Summary: Sheep offer attractive features as an experimental model for testing medical and surgical interventions related to pathological gait caused by neurological diseases and injuries. Establishing the relevant kinematic features of locomotion in sheep is crucial for developing novel treatment strategies in neuroscience. This study compared 2D and 3D hindlimb kinematics during treadmill walking in the ovine model, highlighting significant differences in distal joints and the inadequacy of a 2D approach for joint kinematics assessment in clinically normal sheep.
FRONTIERS IN VETERINARY SCIENCE
(2021)
Article
Geriatrics & Gerontology
Mathilde Gigonzac, Philippe Terrier
Summary: This research aims to assess the efficacy of an arm-in-arm gait training program in older people, with the goal of reducing the risk of falls. The study design is a randomized controlled trial, and the expected benefits of this training include reduced risk of falls, safe treatment without adverse effects, and high adherence. This low-cost intervention could have positive effects on the health and well-being of seniors.
Article
Engineering, Biomedical
Daisey Vega, Christopher J. Arellano
Summary: The study introduced a rope-pulley system to connect the arms and legs physically during walking, reducing the muscular and mechanical demands on the legs for impaired patients.
JOURNAL OF NEUROENGINEERING AND REHABILITATION
(2021)
Article
Computer Science, Software Engineering
Ziyao Wang, Chiyi Liu, Jialiang Chen, Yao Yao, Dazheng Fang, Zhiyi Shi, Rui Yan, Yiye Wang, Kanjian Zhang, Hai Wang, Haikun Wei
Summary: This article introduces a novel omnidirectional treadmill system named HCMK1, which provides a real walking experience in a small space and has significant advantages in terms of weight, volume, latency, and dynamic performance compared to other existing systems.
IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON VISUALIZATION AND COMPUTER GRAPHICS
(2023)
Article
Biophysics
Ashwini Kulkarni, HyeYoung Cho, Shirley Rietdyk, Satyajit Ambike
Summary: Community ambulation requires gait adaptations to navigate environmental obstacles. While crossing obstacles, foot positions and step length are controlled for stability, with older adults displaying weaker synergies compared to young adults. This decline may be associated with aging-related functional deficits and tripping-related falls.
JOURNAL OF BIOMECHANICS
(2021)
Article
Neurosciences
R. A. W. Felius, M. Geerars, S. M. Bruijn, N. C. Wouda, J. H. Van Dieen, M. Punt
Summary: This study aimed to investigate the reliability of using a single inertial measurement unit to assess sitting and standing balance in people after stroke in clinical rehabilitation, and to explore whether averaging two measurements would improve test-retest reliability. The results showed that both single and averaged measurements had good-excellent reliability, with minimal detectable changes ranging from 0.5 to 1.5 standard deviation.
Article
Biophysics
A. M. van Leeuwen, J. H. van Dieen, S. M. Bruijn
Summary: This study investigated the effect of external lateral stabilization on ankle moment control in healthy participants. The results showed a reduction in the contribution of step-by-step ankle moment control, while foot placement error and average center-of-pressure shift remained unchanged.
JOURNAL OF BIOMECHANICS
(2022)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Sophie Wist, Lena J. Carcreff, Sjoerd M. Bruijn, Gilles Allali, Christopher J. Newman, Joel Fluss, Stephane Armand
Summary: This study compared the gait stability of children with cerebral palsy and typically developing children under dual-task conditions. The results showed that the dual task had a significant effect on the children with cerebral palsy, and both groups demonstrated significant changes in gait stability during dual tasks.
Review
Neurosciences
Shanti Van Malderen, Melina Hehl, Stefanie Verstraelen, Stephan P. Swinnen, Koen Cuypers
Summary: This paper reviews and summarizes the research on the inter- and intra-hemispheric interactions of dual-site transcranial magnetic stimulation (ds-TMS) and discusses its applicability and contributions to motor control. However, there is variability in the experimental context and stimulation parameters, calling for more systematic studies to address these issues.
REVIEWS IN THE NEUROSCIENCES
(2023)
Article
Geriatrics & Gerontology
Yuge Zhang, Marco Hoozemans, Mirjam Pijnappels, Sjoerd M. Bruijn
Summary: This study developed and validated a formula to convert GDS-15 scores into GDS-30 scores. The study found that the GDS-15 score cannot be simply multiplied by 2 to obtain the GDS-30 scores, and the estimation of GDS-30 from GDS-15 is not affected by age, sex, and MMSE. Therefore, researchers are advised to use this formula to compare their outcomes with studies that reported only the GDS-30.
EXPERIMENTAL GERONTOLOGY
(2023)
Article
Clinical Neurology
Elena M. Bonke, Amanda Clauwaert, Stefan M. Hillmann, Uta Tacke, Caroline Seer, Eukyung Yhang, Yorghos Tripodis, Stian B. Sandmo, Tim L. T. Wiegand, David Kaufmann, Elisabeth Kaufmann, Sutton B. Richmond, Malo Gaubert, Johanna Seitz-Holland, Alexander Leemans, Stephan P. Swinnen, Roald Bahr, Ofer Pasternak, Florian Heinen, Inga K. Koerte, Michaela V. Bonfert, Jolien Gooijers
Summary: This study investigates the relationship between neurological soft signs (NSS) and postural control in adolescent athletes, and suggests that force plate measures can provide relevant quantitative information in addition to qualitative assessments.
JOURNAL OF THE NEUROLOGICAL SCIENCES
(2023)
Article
Neurosciences
Geraldine Rodriguez-Nieto, Oron Levin, Lize Hermans, Akila Weerasekera, Anca Croitor Sava, Astrid Haghebaert, Astrid Huybrechts, Koen Cuypers, Dante Mantini, Uwe Himmelreich, Stephan P. Swinnen
Summary: Aging is associated with structural and metabolic changes in the brain. Previous research has focused on individual brain regions, but the relationship among metabolites across the brain has been less studied. Using 1H-MRS, this study investigated the relationship among metabolite concentrations in different brain regions in young and older adults. The results showed age-related differences in metabolite concentrations and revealed associative patterns between metabolites across brain regions, which differed between age groups.
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Antonio Jimenez-Marin, Nele De Bruyn, Jolien Gooijers, Alberto Llera, Sarah Meyer, Kaat Alaerts, Geert Verheyden, Stephan P. Swinnen, Jesus M. Cortes
Summary: This study extends lesion network mapping (LNM) by using a multimodal strategy, combining functional and structural networks, to predict sensorimotor behavior in stroke patients. The results show that functional networks contribute more than structural networks in predicting sensorimotor behavior, and the performance of structural networks depends on lesion size correction.
SCIENTIFIC REPORTS
(2022)
Article
Neurosciences
Rina M. Magnani, Jaap H. van Dieen, Sjoerd M. Bruijn
Summary: Vestibular information modulates muscle activity during gait to contribute to stability. Stochastic electrical vestibular stimulation decreases gait stability and precision of foot placement, but these effects are not modulated by step width.
EXPERIMENTAL BRAIN RESEARCH
(2023)
Article
Computer Science, Information Systems
Eric Cito Becman, Larissa Driemeier, Oron Levin, Stephan Swinnen, Arturo Forner-Cordero
Summary: This study investigates the impact of training and testing condition differences on the predictions of a convolutional neural network (CNN) for myoelectric simultaneous and proportional control (SPC). A dataset of electromyogram (EMG) signals and joint angular accelerations recorded during a star drawing task was utilized. CNNs were trained using specific combinations of motion amplitude and frequency and tested under different combinations. The predictive performance was evaluated using normalized root mean squared error (NRMSE), correlation, and linear regression slope. The results showed that the predictive performance declined differently depending on the increase or decrease of confounding factors. Correlation decreased as the factors decreased, while slope deteriorated when the factors increased. NRMSE worsened in both increasing and decreasing factor scenarios. The study suggests that differences in EMG signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) between training and testing may affect the noise robustness of the CNNs' learned internal features, leading to worse correlations. Additionally, the inability of the networks to predict accelerations outside the training range may contribute to slope deterioration. These findings provide opportunities for developing strategies to mitigate the negative impact of confounding factors on myoelectric SPC devices.
IEEE JOURNAL OF BIOMEDICAL AND HEALTH INFORMATICS
(2023)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Jian Jin, Dinant Kistemaker, Jaap H. van Dieën, Andreas Daffertshofer, Sjoerd M. Bruijn
Summary: Power for human walking primarily comes from ankle and hip muscles. Adding a 'passive' hip spring to bipedal models can improve efficiency compared to using only push-off impulse, but the energetic costs of hip spring are not well studied. This study simulated a flat-feet model walking at different speeds and found that asymmetric hip actuation can reduce the metabolic cost of transport (MCOT) relative to ankle actuation by up to 6%, but only at medium speeds. Coordinating ankle actuation, hip flexion, and retraction actuation can help reduce MCOT.
Article
Chemistry, Analytical
Farahnaz Fallahtafti, Sjoerd Bruijn, Arash Mohammadzadeh Gonabadi, Mohammad Sangtarashan, Julie Blaskewicz Boron, Carolin Curtze, Ka-Chun Siu, Sara A. Myers, Jennifer Yentes
Summary: Response to challenging situations is important to prevent falls, especially after medical disturbances that require active control. The relationship between trunk motion in response to disturbances and gait stability has not been well studied.
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Jian Jin, Jaap H. van Dieen, Dinant Kistemaker, Andreas Daffertshofer, Sjoerd M. Bruijn
Summary: Understanding the mechanisms humans use to stabilize walking is crucial for predicting falls in the elderly. Two potential mechanisms, foot placement control and ankle push-off control, have been identified to stabilize gait in the anterior-posterior direction. It is unknown whether the latter mechanism is employed in steady-state walking. This study found that foot placement errors in steady-state walking were correlated to ankle push-off torque, suggesting that humans use a push-off strategy to correct foot placement errors.
Correction
Multidisciplinary Sciences
S. M. Bruijn, O. G. Meijer, P. J. Beek, J. H. van Dieen
JOURNAL OF THE ROYAL SOCIETY INTERFACE
(2023)
Article
Cell Biology
Caroline Seer, Hamed Zivari Adab, Justina Sidlauskaite, Thijs Dhollander, Sima Chalavi, Jolien Gooijers, Stefan Sunaert, Stephan P. Swinnen
Summary: The study found that white matter connectivity in the corpus callosum (CC) is associated with cognitive and motor performance in older adults, with executive functioning partially explaining the relationship between prefrontal transcallosal pathways and motor control.