Neural predictors of gait stability when walking freely in the real-world

Abstract

BackgroundGait impairments during real-world locomotion are common in neurological diseases. However, very little is currently known about the neural correlates of walking in the real world and on which regions of the brain are involved in regulating gait stability and performance. As a first step to understanding how neural control of gait may be impaired in neurological conditions such as Parkinson’s disease, we investigated how regional brain activation might predict walking performance in the urban environment and whilst engaging with secondary tasks in healthy subjects.MethodsWe recorded gait characteristics including trunk acceleration and brain activation in 14 healthy young subjects whilst they walked around the university campus freely (single task), while conversing with the experimenter and while texting with their smartphone. Neural spectral power density (PSD) was evaluated in three brain regions of interest, namely the pre-frontal cortex (PFC) and bilateral posterior parietal cortex (right/left PPC). We hypothesized that specific regional neural activation would predict trunk acceleration data obtained during the different walking conditions.ResultsVertical trunk acceleration was predicted by gait velocity and left PPC theta (4–7 Hz) band PSD in single-task walking (R-squared = 0.725, p = 0.001) and by gait velocity and left PPC alpha (8–12 Hz) band PSD in walking while conversing (R-squared = 0.727, p = 0.001). Medio-lateral trunk acceleration was predicted by left PPC beta (15–25 Hz) band PSD when walking while texting (R-squared = 0.434, p = 0.010).ConclusionsWe suggest that the left PPC may be involved in the processes of sensorimotor integration and gait control during walking in real-world conditions. Frequency-specific coding was operative in different dual tasks and may be developed as biomarkers of gait deficits in neurological conditions during performance of these types of, now commonly undertaken, dual tasks.

Neuromodulation targets pathological not physiological beta bursts during gait in Parkinson's disease

“…Axial motor programs are influenced by neural activity from both cerebral hemispheres (Wagner et al , 2016; Pizzamiglio et al , 2018). However, Parkinson’s disease usually starts on one side of the body, which remains the more affected (MA) side and we have shown that resting-state beta band power is higher in the MA STN (Shreve et al , 2017).…”

Characterization of EEG Data Revealing Relationships With Cognitive and Motor Symptoms in Parkinson's Disease: A Systematic Review

“…PD-FOG patients showed increased β power and decreased θ power in mid-frontal region when performing a lower-limb pedaling motor task needing intentional initiation and stopping of movement (Singh et al, 2020 ). The θ, α, and β activities in left posterior parietal cortex (PPC) were positively correlated to the motion parameters during single or dual task walking (conversation/email sending), indicating that the left PPC may be involved in sensory motor integration and gait control (Pizzamiglio et al, 2018 ). Studies also found that the power of δ, θ, and γ bands was significantly increased during the planning and execution stages of motor (particularly in the execution stage), followed by decreases in α, β, and low-γ bands after an execution cue (Combrisson et al, 2017 ; Delval et al, 2018 ).…”

Walking to your right music: a randomized controlled trial on the novel use of treadmill plus music in Parkinson’s disease

“…EEG segmentation was based on data synchronized from the important time points (i.e., start, heel strikes, and end) furnished by a wireless inertial sensor (GSensor, BTS Bioengineering; Milan, Italy) and used to extrapolate gait phase data. Thus, the single trial spectograms were time-warped over the trials using a linear interpolation function, with the gait data used as milestones for realigning the EEG signals’ time axes (i.e., aligning the time-points of the epochs for the HS, including the right, left, and right HS time-warped to 0, 50, and 100% of the gait cycle, respectively) [25, 29, 67, 72, 73, 88].…”