Humans Control Stride-to-Stride Stepping Movements Differently for Walking and Running, Independent of Speed

As humans walk or run, external (environmental) and internal (physiological) disturbances induce variability. How humans regulate this variability from stride-to-stride can be critical to maintaining balance. One cannot infer what is “controlled” based on analyses of variability alone. Assessing control requires quantifying how deviations are corrected across consecutive movements. Here, we assessed walking and running, each at two speeds. We hypothesized differences in speed would drive changes in variability, while adoptin g different gaits would drive changes in how people regulated stepping.
Source: Journal of Biomechanics - Category: Biomedical Science Authors: Source Type: research