Neuromechanical Factors of the Adaptable Control of Locomotor Movements in Humans

人类的运动使我们能够适应各种地形或行走环境。它提供了丰富的灵活性，可以跨越道路上的障碍，适应行走表面的变化或对身体部分机械性能的变化做出反应。中枢神经系统（CNS）可以改变基本行走节奏以外的运动，以确保足够的支持、平衡和安全的肢体轨迹。为了在调整过程中协调姿势和运动，中枢神经系统依赖于通过感觉信息更新的肢体和身体力学知识。我研究的主要目的是了解机械和神经系统在促进步态改变中的相互作用。本研究的主要方向是：1)实验项目将探索行走任务中姿势和运动的协调，这些任务对机械和神经系统的需求发生了变化。步态评估将采用肌肉活动、运动学和动力学的测量来确定这些运动适应的来源和性质。研究将集中于运动策略的选择，这取决于任务/环境的机械需求。特别关注过渡时期，当个人从一个步行任务或环境转移到另一个步行任务或环境时，这些事件与跌倒高度相关！2)结合双足运动系统的力学和神经特性的计算机模型的进展。神经方面评估运动策略如何在中央指令和感觉反馈机制中表现出来。这些贡献将在很大程度上以从动物和人体实验中获得的知识为指导。同时，机械模型将寻求确定与这些适应相关的特定组织贡献。最终目标是整合实证和分析方向，以了解运动策略的神经力学决定因素。

Human locomotion allows us to adapt to various terrains or walking environments. It affords a rich flexibility to step over barriers in one's path, adjust to changes in the walking surface or react to changes in the mechanical properties of body segments. The central nervous system (CNS) can modify movements beyond a basic walking rhythm to ensure adequate support, balance and safe limb trajectories. To coordinate posture & movement during modifications, the CNS depends on knowledge of limb and body mechanics as updated through sensory information.The principal objective of my research is to understand the interaction of the mechanical & neural systems in facilitating gait modifications. The primary directions of this research are:1) Experimental projects will probe the coordination of posture & movement during walking tasks that place altered demands on the mechanical & neural systems. Gait assessment will employ measures of muscle activity, kinematics and kinetics to identify the source and nature of these locomotor adaptations. Studies will focus on the selection of motor strategies that are dependent on mechanical demands of the task/environment. Specific concentration placed on transitional periods, when individuals move from one walking task or environment to another as such events have been highly correlated to falls! 2) Advancement of computer models incorporating the mechanical & neural properties of a bipedallocomotor system. Neural aspects assess how locomotor strategies are represented in both central commands and sensory feedback mechanisms. These contributions will largely be guided by the knowledge gained from both animal and human experiments. At the same time, mechanical models will seek to identify specific tissue contributions related to these adaptations. The ultimate goal is to integrate both empirical and analytical directions to understand the neuromechanical determinants of locomotor strategies.