Locomotor Coordination, Visual Perception and Head Stability during Running

Abstract

Perception and action are coupled such that information from the perceptual system is related to the dynamics of action in order to regulate behavior adaptively. Using running as a model of a cyclic behavior, this coupling involves a continuous, cyclic relationship between the runner's perception of the environment and the necessary adjustments of the body that ultimately result in a stable pattern of behavior. The purpose of this paper is to illustrate how individuals relate visual perception to rhythmic locomotor coordination patterns in conditions during which foot-ground collisions and visual task demands are altered. We review the findings of studies conducted to illustrate how humans change their behavior to maintain head stability during running with and without various degrees of visual challenge from the environment. Finally, we show that the human body adapts specific segment/joint configuration and coordination patterns to maintain head stability, both in the lower extremity and upper body segments, together with an increase in coordinative variability. These results indicate that in human locomotion, under higher speed (running) and visual task demands, systematic adaptations occur in the rhythmic coupling between the perceptual and movement systems.

Play it by Ear: A perceptual algorithm for autonomous melodious piano playing with a bio-inspired robotic hand

“…Perception plays a critical role in shaping the coordination, stability, and organization of motor actions (19; 20; 21; 22; 23; 24; 25; 26; 27; 28; 29; 30). Perception fundamentally contextualizes and attributes meaning to sensations to produce meaningful actions.…”

Icy road ahead - rapid adjustments of gaze-gait interactions during perturbed naturalistic walking

“…It comes as no surprise, then, that eye and body movements tend to be coupled: Not only do the eyes interact with how the body and the head move (Guitton, 1992;Hamill, Lim, & Emmerik, 2020;Imai, Moore, Raphan, & Cohen, 2001;Moore et al, 2001;Solman, Foulsham, & Kingstone, 2017), they have also been shown to move in coordinated fashion with the feet in a stepping task (Hollands & Marple-Horvat, 2001). In walking more generally, higher terrain difficulty correlates with a lowered gaze ('t Hart & Einhäuser, 2012), a relationship that holds not just with respect to terrain difficulty, but also to the walker's assessment of the terrain (Thomas, Gardiner, Crompton, & Lawson, 2020).…”

Neuromechanical linkage between the head and forearm during running

“…Visual acuity during simulated running is also lower than standing still (Demer & Viirre, 1996), and the vestibulo‐ocular reflex is only able to counteract ~75% of the head's rotational velocity with eye rotation in this paradigm (Grossman et al, 1989). The experimental challenge of gaze stability has also been shown to cause changes in lower limb and trunk kinematics, altering running mechanics in order to maintain stable gaze within the prescribed range (Hamill et al, 2020; Lim et al, 2017). It is hypothesized that the nuchal ligament, along with active muscle contraction, resists pitching torques caused by collisions with the ground and therefore aids in the maintenance of gaze stability (Gellman & Bertram, 2002).…”

“…When subjects were asked to fix their gaze within a narrow window during running they reduced both hip and ankle motion while increasing knee flexion, adopting a more compliant gait that attenuated the collision impulse as it traveled up the body from the foot to the head (Lim et al, 2017). Further attenuation of the collision impulse can occur through modulating trunk motions, which oscillate once per step (Hamill et al, 2020; Thorstensson et al, 1984), and appear to aid in head balance in the frontal plane compared with chimpanzee bipedal gait (Thompson et al, 2018). Therefore, head stabilization can be considered an integrated system involving the entire body, with superior trapezius activity being one component of the system.…”