Motor adaptation during human locomotion

人类运动过程中的运动适应

• 批准号: 6777049
• 负责人: Daniel P Ferris
• 金额: $ 31.23万
• 依托单位: UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN AT ANN ARBOR
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 财政年份: 2002
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2002-09-01 至 2006-07-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/6777049
• 关键词: biomechanics; chordate locomotion; clinical research; electrodes; electromyography; gait; human subject; limb movement; muscle function; nerve injury; nervous system disorder; neural plasticity; neuromuscular disorder; neuromuscular system; neuroregulation; psychomotor function; rehabilitation

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Recent research suggests that locomotor training can improve human walking ability after neurological injury. When stroke and spinal cord injury patients practice stepping with manual assistance, they recover mobility more quickly due to task-specific motor learning. Although multiple studies support the efficacy of this rehabilitation method, there is considerable debate about the extent of motor adaptation possible in the human locomotor pattern. Some animal and clinical studies indicate that muscle activation patterns during locomotion are hardwired into the nervous system and incapable of substantial modification. This would suggest that there are limits to locomotor training as a therapeutic tool. The proposed research project will use powered ankle-foot orthoses to study human locomotor adaptation. The powered orthoses will exert a torque about the ankle joint, altering normal lower limb kinematics if muscle activity patterns are not modified. As a result, these studies will test the relative invariance of muscle activity patterns and lower limb kinematics during human locomotion. This will not only provide the opportunity to study human locomotor adaptation under controlled experimental conditions, it will also provide a means to test the hypothesis that the nervous system controls lower limb movements during locomotion based on kinematics. The overall objectives of the proposed research are 1) to determine the extent of motor adaptation possible in the human locomotor pattern and 2) to test and hypothesized neural control strategy for human walking. Healthy human subjects will walk while wearing carbon fiber ankle-foot orthoses that are powered by artificial pneumatic muscles and controlled via proportional myoelectrical control. The studies will test the hypothesis that subjects will modify their muscle activity patterns when walking with powered orthoses to maintain joint kinematics similar to normal walking. In addition to providing important insight into the neural control of human locomotion, the project will advance robotic technologies for assisting gait rehabilitation and controlling powered lower limb prostheses.

描述（由申请人提供）：最近的研究表明，运动训练可以提高神经损伤后的行走能力。当中风和脊髓损伤患者在手动辅助下练习踏步时，由于特定任务的运动学习，他们可以更快地恢复活动能力。尽管多项研究支持这种康复方法的有效性，但关于运动适应在人类运动模式中的可能程度存在相当大的争议。一些动物和临床研究表明，运动过程中的肌肉激活模式是固定在神经系统中的，无法进行实质性的修改。这表明运动训练作为治疗工具是有局限性的。拟议的研究项目将使用动力踝足矫形器来研究人类运动适应。如果不改变肌肉活动模式，动力矫形器将对踝关节施加扭矩，改变正常的下肢运动学。因此，这些研究将测试人体运动过程中肌肉活动模式和下肢运动学的相对不变性。这不仅为在受控实验条件下研究人类运动适应提供了机会，也将为验证基于运动学的运动过程中神经系统控制下肢运动的假设提供了一种手段。本研究的总体目标是：1)确定人类运动模式中可能的运动适应程度；2)测试和假设人类行走的神经控制策略。健康的人类受试者将穿着碳纤维踝足矫形器行走，该矫形器由人造气动肌肉提供动力，并通过比例肌电控制进行控制。这些研究将验证一个假设，即受试者在使用动力矫形器行走时将改变他们的肌肉活动模式，以保持与正常行走相似的关节运动学。除了为人类运动的神经控制提供重要见解外，该项目还将推进机器人技术，以协助步态康复和控制动力下肢假肢。