Scientific Programme

Biomechanics & Motor control

IS-BM01 - Neuromotor stability control and inter-task generalisation in irregular human gait

Date: 01.07.2025, Time: 12:00 - 13:15, Session Room: Arengo

Description

The speed of actual walking is rather a time-varying trajectory that is modulated by task urgency, individual neuromuscular capacity or locomotor perturbations, and therefore steady locomotion in real-world environments is more an exception than the rule. Movement on irregular surfaces is associated with external mechanical perturbations, increased gait instability and increased risk of falls. Therefore, research that promotes our understanding of how biological systems control and regulate stability in the presence of perturbations and how adaptation in stability control can be generalised across tasks, is very important for safe and effective locomotion. Mechanical preflexes, sensory feedback and feedforward commands are mechanisms that control the stability of biological systems, are complementary and can be modified through experience and motor learning. In the session, we will focus on challenging locomotor conditions such as walking on uneven ground and different types of gait perturbations, as walking is the most common fall-related activity in humans and missteps and trips account for the majority of all falls. We will address (i) how the human neuromotor system regulates the translational and rotational behaviour of the whole-body to maintain stability, (ii) how generalisation of adaptation is possible and how it may be limited across gait perturbation tasks and, (iii) how biarticular mechanisms of the musculoskeletal system may contribute to stability control.