Icy road ahead - rapid adjustments of gaze-gait interactions during perturbed naturalistic walking
Year: 2020
Type: preprint
Abstract: Most humans can walk effortlessly across uniform terrain even without paying much attention to it. However, most natural terrain is far from uniform, and we need visual information to maintain stable gait. In a controlled yet naturalistic environment, we simulated terrain difficulty through slip-like perturbations that were either unpredictable (experiment 1) or sometimes followed visual cues (experiment 2) while recording eye and body movements using mobile eye tracking and full-body motion tracking. We quantified the distinct roles of eye and head movements for adjusting gaze on different time scales. While motor perturbations mainly influenced head movements, eye movements were primarily affected by visual cues, both immediately following slips, and – to a lesser extent – over 5-minute blocks. We find adapted gaze parameters already after the first perturbation in each block, with little transfer between blocks. In conclusion, gaze-gait interactions in experimentally perturbed naturalistic walking are adaptive, flexible, and effector-specific.
Institution: Chemnitz University of Technology
Language: English
Field: Health Professions
Domain: Health Sciences
Open Access status: green
Funder: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft
OpenAlex ID: W4409920564