Article

Arm and leg coordination naturally emerges during walking, but can be affected by
stroke or Parkinson's disease. The purpose of this preliminary study was to
characterize arm and leg coordination during treadmill walking at self-selected
comfortable walking speeds (CWSs) in individuals using arm swing with motor
incomplete spinal cord injury (iSCI). Hip and shoulder angle cycle durations and
amplitudes, strength of peak correlations between contralateral hip and shoulder
joint angle time series, the time shifts at which these peak correlations occur,
and associated variability were quantified. Outcomes in individuals with iSCI
selecting fast CWSs (range, 1.0-1.3m/s) and speed-matched individuals without
neurological injuries are similar. Differences, however, are detected in
individuals with iSCI selecting slow CWSs (range, 0.25-0.65 m/s) and may
represent compensatory strategies to improve walking balance or forward
propulsion. These individuals elicit a 1:1, arm:leg frequency ratio versus the
2:1 ratio observed in non-injured individuals. Shoulder and hip movement
patterns, however, are highly reproducible (coordinated) in participants with
iSCI, regardless of CWS.
This high degree of inter-extremity coordination could
reflect an inability to modify a single movement pattern post-iSCI. Combined,
these data suggest inter-extremity walking coordination may be altered, but is
present after iSCI, and therefore may be regulated, in part, by neural control.
CI - Published by Elsevier B.V.

Langue : ANGLAIS