Title: Asymmetry of short-term control of spatio-temporal gait parameters during treadmill walking,
Abstract: Optimization of energy cost determines average values of spatio-temporal gait
parameters such as step duration, step length or step speed. However, during
walking, humans need to adapt these parameters at every step to respond to
exogenous and/or endogenic perturbations. While some neurological mechanisms
that trigger these responses are known, our understanding of the fundamental
principles governing step-by-step adaptation remains elusive. We determined the
gait parameters of 20 healthy subjects with right-foot preference during
treadmill walking at speeds of 1.1, 1.4 and 1.7 m/s. We found that when the
value of the gait parameter was conspicuously greater (smaller) than the mean
value, it was either followed immediately by a smaller (greater) value of the
contralateral leg (interleg control), or the deviation from the mean value
decreased during the next movement of ipsilateral leg (intraleg control). The
selection of step duration and the selection of step length during such
transient control events were performed in unique ways. We quantified the
symmetry of short-term control of gait parameters and observed the significant
dominance of the right leg in short-term control of all three parameters at
higher speeds (1.4 and 1.7 m/s).