Walking on an Oscillating Treadmill: Two Paths to Functional Adaptation

Abstract

We mounted a treadmill on top of a six degree-of-freedom motion base platform to investigate and characterize locomotor responses produced by healthy adults when introduced to a novel walking condition. Subjects were classified into two groups according to how their stride times were affected by the perturbation. Our data suggest that a person's choice of adaptation strategy is influenced by the relationship between his unique, natural stride frequency and the external frequency imposed by the motion base. Our data suggest that a person's stride time response while walking on a laterally oscillating treadmill is influenced by the relationship between his unique, natural stride frequency and the imposed external frequency of the motion base. This relationship may be useful for checking the efficacy of gait training and rehabilitation programs. Preselecting and manipulating a person's EST could be one way to draw him out of his preferred "entrainment well" during therapy or training.