Comparison of trunk activity during gait initiation and walking in humans.

Jean-Charles Ceccato, Mathieu de Sèze, Christine Azevedo, Jean-René Cazalets
PLoS ONE. 2009-12-07; 4(12): e8193
DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0008193

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1. PLoS One. 2009 Dec 7;4(12):e8193. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0008193.

Comparison of trunk activity during gait initiation and walking in humans.

Ceccato JC(1), de Sèze M, Azevedo C, Cazalets JR.

Author information:
(1)Université de Bordeaux, UMR 5227, laboratoire Mouvement adaptation cognition,
Centre National de la recherche scientifique, Bordeaux, France.

To understand the role of trunk muscles in maintenance of dynamic postural
equilibrium we investigate trunk movements during gait initiation and walking,
performing trunk kinematics analysis, Erector spinae muscle (ES) recordings and
dynamic analysis. ES muscle expressed a metachronal descending pattern of
activity during walking and gait initiation. In the frontal and horizontal
planes, lateroflexion and rotation occur before in the upper trunk and after in
the lower trunk. Comparison of ES muscle EMGs and trunk kinematics showed that
trunk muscle activity precedes corresponding kinematics activity, indicating that
the ES drive trunk movement during locomotion and thereby allowing a better
pelvis mobilization. EMG data showed that ES activity anticipates propulsive
phases in walking with a repetitive pattern, suggesting a programmed control by a
central pattern generator. Our findings also suggest that the programs for gait
initiation and walking overlap with the latter beginning before the first has
ended.

DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0008193
PMCID: PMC2782139
PMID: 19997606 [Indexed for MEDLINE]

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