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Full-Text Articles in Life Sciences

Metabolic Cost Of Asymmetrical Walking: Preferred Step Time Asymmetry Optimizes Metabolic Cost Of Walking, Jan Stenum Oct 2019

Metabolic Cost Of Asymmetrical Walking: Preferred Step Time Asymmetry Optimizes Metabolic Cost Of Walking, Jan Stenum

Doctoral Dissertations

Hemiparetic and amputee walking often has asymmetrical step lengths and step times, and it is metabolically costlier than symmetrical able-bodied walking. Consequently, asymmetry has been suggested to account for the greater energy expenditure, but the metabolic cost of asymmetrical walking is poorly understood. Conversely, even though symmetry is metabolically optimal in able-bodied walking, it is also possible that asymmetrical gait parameters may be selected if they are optimal under imposed constraints. First, to understand the metabolic cost of asymmetry, we performed experiment 1 in which we recruited 10 able-bodied subjects to walk with a range of different combinations of asymmetrical …


Sleep-Dependent Consolidation Of Locomotor Sequence Learning And Locomotor Adaptation, Gabriela Borin Castillo Jul 2019

Sleep-Dependent Consolidation Of Locomotor Sequence Learning And Locomotor Adaptation, Gabriela Borin Castillo

Doctoral Dissertations

Walking is a complex task that requires precise coordination of many muscles and joints. The nervous system must continually learn how to control gait patterns as changes occur to the body (e.g., injury and fatigue) or environment (e.g., slippery floor). Motor learning refers to processes that improve the spatial and/or temporal accuracy of a movement through motor practice. Although additional hours of practice can improve motor skill performance (online learning), time without additional practice (offline learning) can further enhance motor learning. Consolidation refers to the process by which motor (procedural) memory becomes more robust and stable after the end of …


Walking For Object Transport: An Examination Of The Coordinative Adaptations To Locomotor, Perceptual, And Manual Task Constraints, Avelino Amado Jul 2019

Walking For Object Transport: An Examination Of The Coordinative Adaptations To Locomotor, Perceptual, And Manual Task Constraints, Avelino Amado

Doctoral Dissertations

The goal of this dissertation was to understand how the intrinsic dynamics of gait adapt to support the performance of an ecologically relevant object transport task. A common object transport task is walking with a cup of water. Because the water can move relatively independent of the cup, the cup and water system is classified as a complex object. To model this task participants carried a cup with a wooden lid placed on top. On the lid there was a circular region with the same circumference as the cup and a ball. The object of the task was to keep …


Metabolic Cost And Stability Of Locomotion In People With Lower Limb Amputation, Ryan Wedge Jul 2019

Metabolic Cost And Stability Of Locomotion In People With Lower Limb Amputation, Ryan Wedge

Doctoral Dissertations

It is generally accepted that metabolic energy expenditure and gait stability are key factors that influence the selection of able-bodied locomotor patterns. It is unclear how energy expenditure and gait stability are prioritized during walking in people with lower limb amputation. People with lower limb amputation generally have greater metabolic energy expenditure during walking and increased incidence of falls. People with unilateral lower limb amputation spend more time on the intact limb compared with the prosthetic limb, while able-bodied individuals generally walk with symmetrical timing between limbs. Restoring symmetry is often a goal of rehabilitation and assistive devices, yet the …


Development And Cross-Validation Of A Cadence-Based Metabolic Equation For Walking, Christopher C. Moore Jul 2019

Changes In Muscle Control And Coordination In Novel Task Learning, Sangsoo Park Mar 2019

Changes In Muscle Control And Coordination In Novel Task Learning, Sangsoo Park

Doctoral Dissertations

Learning many daily life motor skills is critical for survival and the quality of living in humans. As children, we develop walking and running patterns to move the body from point A to B without falling, and we learn to grasp a wide variety of objects during activities of daily living. Motor skills can be properly performed by appropriate muscle activations which are controlled by the central nervous system. How does the central nervous system develop and fine-tune its control strategy to learn a new motor skill? The aim of this dissertation was to better understand how human participants alter …