Dynamics of corticospinal motor control during overground and treadmill walking in humans

Roeder, Luisa, Boonstra, Tjeerd W., Smith, Simon S., and Kerr, Graham K. (2018) Dynamics of corticospinal motor control during overground and treadmill walking in humans. Journal of Neurophysiology, 120 (3). pp. 1017-1031.

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Abstract

Increasing evidence suggests cortical involvement in the control of human gait. However, the nature of corticospinal interactions remains poorly understood. We performed time-frequency analysis of electrophysiological activity acquired during treadmill and overground walking in 22 healthy, young adults. Participants walked at their preferred speed (4.2, SD 0.4 km/h), which was matched across both gait conditions. Event-related power, corticomuscular coherence (CMC), and intertrial coherence (ITC) were assessed for EEG from bilateral sensorimotor cortices and EMG from the bilateral tibialis anterior (TA) muscles. Cortical power, CMC, and ITC at theta, alpha, beta, and gamma frequencies (4-45 Hz) increased during the double support phase of the gait cycle for both overground and treadmill walking. High beta (21-30 Hz) CMC and ITC of EMG was significantly increased during overground compared with treadmill walking, as well as EEG power in theta band (4-7 Hz). The phase spectra revealed positive time lags at alpha, beta, and gamma frequencies, indicating that the EEG response preceded the EMG response. The parallel increases in power, CMC, and ITC during double support suggest evoked responses at spinal and cortical populations rather than a modulation of ongoing corticospinal oscillatory interactions. The evoked responses are not consistent with the idea of synchronization of ongoing corticospinal oscillations but instead suggest coordinated cortical and spinal inputs during the double support phase. Frequency-band dependent differences in power, CMC, and ITC between overground and treadmill walking suggest differing neural control for the two gait modalities, emphasizing the task-dependent nature of neural processes during human walking.

Item ID: 58875
Item Type: Article (Research - C1)
ISSN: 1522-1598
Keywords: ambulatory EEG; corticomuscular coherence; human gait; neural oscillations; time-frequency analysis
Copyright Information: Copyright © 2018 the American Physiological Society
Funders: Parkinson’s Queensland Incorporated (PQI)
Projects and Grants: PQI PhD project grant
Date Deposited: 10 Jul 2019 00:56
FoR Codes: 42 HEALTH SCIENCES > 4207 Sports science and exercise > 420703 Motor control @ 50%
32 BIOMEDICAL AND CLINICAL SCIENCES > 3209 Neurosciences > 320903 Central nervous system @ 50%
SEO Codes: 92 HEALTH > 9299 Other Health > 929999 Health not elsewhere classified @ 100%
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