Strategies for the Control of Balance During Locomotion

The neural control of balance during locomotion is currently not well understood, even in the light of considerable advances in research on balance during standing. In this paper, we lay out the control problem for this task and present a list of different strategies available to the central nervous system to solve this problem. We discuss the biomechanics of the walking body, using a simplified model that iteratively gains degrees of freedom and complexity. Each addition allows for different control strategies, which we introduce in turn: foot placement shift, ankle strategy, hip strategy, and push-off modulation. The dynamics of the biomechanical system are discussed using the phase space representation, which allows illustrating the mechanical effect of the different control mechanisms. This also enables us to demonstrate the effects of common general stability strategies, such as increasing step width and cadence.

[1]  J. F. Yang,et al.  Phase-dependent reflex reversal in human leg muscles during walking. , 1990, Journal of neurophysiology.

[2]  Gregor Schöner,et al.  A multi-joint model of quiet, upright stance accounts for the “uncontrolled manifold” structure of joint variance , 2017, Biological Cybernetics.

[3]  P. Beek,et al.  Is slow walking more stable? , 2009, Journal of biomechanics.

[4]  Tim Kiemel,et al.  Control and estimation of posture during quiet stance depends on multijoint coordination. , 2007, Journal of neurophysiology.

[5]  J. C. Dean,et al.  Hip proprioceptive feedback influences the control of mediolateral stability during human walking. , 2015, Journal of neurophysiology.

[6]  Emily A Keshner,et al.  Sensory reweighting as a method of balance training for labyrinthine loss. , 2008, Journal of neurologic physical therapy : JNPT.

[7]  Marko B. Popovic,et al.  Ground Reference Points in Legged Locomotion: Definitions, Biological Trajectories and Control Implications , 2005, Int. J. Robotics Res..

[8]  Bradford L. Rankin,et al.  A neuromechanical strategy for mediolateral foot placement in walking humans. , 2014, Journal of neurophysiology.

[9]  A. Kuo,et al.  Active control of lateral balance in human walking. , 2000, Journal of biomechanics.

[10]  Sergey V. Drakunov,et al.  Capture Point: A Step toward Humanoid Push Recovery , 2006, 2006 6th IEEE-RAS International Conference on Humanoid Robots.

[11]  Kazuhito Yokoi,et al.  Biped walking pattern generation by using preview control of zero-moment point , 2003, 2003 IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation (Cat. No.03CH37422).

[12]  M. Srinivasan,et al.  Correction to ‘Walking with wider steps changes foot placement control, increases kinematic variability and does not improve linear stability’ , 2018, Royal Society Open Science.

[13]  Bradford J McFadyen,et al.  Magnitude effects of galvanic vestibular stimulation on the trajectory of human gait , 2000, Neuroscience Letters.

[14]  F E Zajac,et al.  Human standing posture: multi-joint movement strategies based on biomechanical constraints. , 1993, Progress in brain research.

[15]  Arthur D. Kuo,et al.  Stabilization of Lateral Motion in Passive Dynamic Walking , 1999, Int. J. Robotics Res..

[16]  Hartmut Geyer,et al.  A Muscle-Reflex Model That Encodes Principles of Legged Mechanics Produces Human Walking Dynamics and Muscle Activities , 2010, IEEE Transactions on Neural Systems and Rehabilitation Engineering.

[17]  J. Duysens,et al.  Responses of human hip abductor muscles to lateral balance perturbations during walking , 2013, Experimental Brain Research.

[18]  Seungmoon Song,et al.  A neural circuitry that emphasizes spinal feedback generates diverse behaviours of human locomotion , 2015, The Journal of physiology.

[19]  A L Hof,et al.  The condition for dynamic stability. , 2005, Journal of biomechanics.

[20]  Elizabeth D. Thompson,et al.  Complementary mechanisms for upright balance during walking , 2017, PloS one.

[21]  A. Hof,et al.  Control of lateral balance in walking. Experimental findings in normal subjects and above-knee amputees. , 2007, Gait & posture.

[22]  P. Fitts.  The information capacity of the human motor system in controlling the amplitude of movement. , 1954, Journal of experimental psychology.

[23]  Myunghee Kim,et al.  Stabilization of a three-dimensional limit cycle walking model through step-to-step ankle control , 2013, 2013 IEEE 13th International Conference on Rehabilitation Robotics (ICORR).

[24]  M A Townsend,et al.  Biped gait stabilization via foot placement. , 1985, Journal of biomechanics.

[25]  R. Peterka.  Sensorimotor integration in human postural control. , 2002, Journal of neurophysiology.

[26]  Steven H Collins,et al.  Once-per-step control of ankle-foot prosthesis push-off work reduces effort associated with balance during walking , 2015, Journal of NeuroEngineering and Rehabilitation.

[27]  Steven A Kautz,et al.  Foot placement control and gait instability among people with stroke. , 2015, Journal of rehabilitation research and development.

[28]  R. Kram,et al.  Mechanical and metabolic determinants of the preferred step width in human walking , 2001, Proceedings of the Royal Society of London. Series B: Biological Sciences.

[29]  P. Beek,et al.  Maximum Lyapunov exponents as predictors of global gait stability: a modelling approach. , 2012, Medical engineering & physics.

[30]  M. Srinivasan,et al.  Stepping in the direction of the fall: the next foot placement can be predicted from current upper body state in steady-state walking , 2014, Biology Letters.

[31]  J. Dingwell,et al.  Separating the effects of age and walking speed on gait variability. , 2008, Gait & posture.

[32]  D. Winter,et al.  Assessment of balance control in humans. , 1990, Medical progress through technology.

[33]  Ilona J Pinter,et al.  The dynamics of postural sway cannot be captured using a one-segment inverted pendulum model: a PCA on segment rotations during unperturbed stance. , 2008, Journal of neurophysiology.

[34]  Mark Vlutters,et al.  Rapid limb‐specific modulation of vestibular contributions to ankle muscle activity during locomotion , 2017, The Journal of physiology.

[35]  Patricia M McAndrew,et al.  Walking Variability during Continuous Pseudo-random Oscillations of the Support Surface and Visual Field , 2022 .

[36]  J. Dingwell,et al.  Kinematic variability and local dynamic stability of upper body motions when walking at different speeds. , 2006, Journal of biomechanics.

[37]  C Maurer,et al.  A multisensory posture control model of human upright stance. , 2003, Progress in brain research.