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  • Is conservation of center of mass mechanics a priority in human walking? Insights from leg-length asymmetry experiments

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    Author(s)
    McDonald, Kirsty A
    Devaprakash, Daniel
    Rubenson, Jonas
    Griffith University Author(s)
    Devaprakash, Daniel
    Year published
    2019
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    Abstract
    Center of mass (COM) control has been proposed to serve economy- and stability-related locomotor task objectives. However, given the lack of evidence supporting direct sensing and/or regulation of the COM, it remains unclear whether COM mechanics are prioritized in the control scheme of walking. We posit that peripheral musculoskeletal structures, e.g. muscle, are more realistic control targets than the COM, given their abundance of sensorimotor receptors and ability to influence whole-body energetics. As a first test of this hypothesis, we examined whether conservation of stance-phase joint mechanics is prioritized over COM ...
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    Center of mass (COM) control has been proposed to serve economy- and stability-related locomotor task objectives. However, given the lack of evidence supporting direct sensing and/or regulation of the COM, it remains unclear whether COM mechanics are prioritized in the control scheme of walking. We posit that peripheral musculoskeletal structures, e.g. muscle, are more realistic control targets than the COM, given their abundance of sensorimotor receptors and ability to influence whole-body energetics. As a first test of this hypothesis, we examined whether conservation of stance-phase joint mechanics is prioritized over COM mechanics in a locomotor task where simultaneous conservation of COM and joint mechanics is not feasible: imposed leg-length asymmetry. Positive joint mechanical cost of transport (work per distance traveled; COTJNT) was maintained at values closer to normal walking than COM mechanical cost of transport (COTCOM; P<0.05, N=15). Furthermore, compared with our measures of COM mechanics (COTCOM, COM displacement), joint-level variables (COTJNT, integrated total support moment) also displayed stronger conservation (less change from normal walking) when the participants' self-selected gait was assessed against other possible gait solutions. We conclude that when walking humans are exposed to an asymmetric leg-length perturbation, control of joint mechanics is prioritized over COM mechanics. Our results suggest that mechanical and metabolic effort is likely regulated via control of peripheral structures and not directly at the level of the COM. Joint mechanics may provide a more accurate representation of the underlying locomotor control targets and may prove advantageous in informing predictive models of human walking.
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    Journal Title
    Journal of Experimental Biology
    Volume
    222
    Issue
    9
    DOI
    https://doi.org/10.1242/jeb.195172
    Copyright Statement
    © 2019. Company of Biologists Ltd. The attached file is reproduced here in accordance with the copyright policy of the publisher. Please refer to the journal's website for access to the definitive, published version.
    Subject
    Biological sciences
    Biomedical and clinical sciences
    Science & Technology
    Life Sciences & Biomedicine
    Biology
    Life Sciences & Biomedicine - Other Topics
    Cost of transport
    Publication URI
    http://hdl.handle.net/10072/396640
    Collection
    • Journal articles

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