Influence of Backpack Carriage and Walking Speed on Muscle Synergies in Healthy Children

Autor: Giorgia Marino, Alessandro Scano, Giulia Beltrame, Cristina Brambilla, Alessandro Marazzi, Francesco Aparo, Lorenzo Molinari Tosatti, Roberto Gatti, Nicola Portinaro
Jazyk: angličtina
Rok vydání: 2024
Předmět:
Zdroj: Bioengineering, Vol 11, Iss 2, p 173 (2024)
Druh dokumentu: article
ISSN: 2306-5354
DOI: 10.3390/bioengineering11020173
Popis: Four to five muscle synergies account for children’s locomotion and appear to be consistent across alterations in speed and slopes. Backpack carriage induces alterations in gait kinematics in healthy children, raising questions regarding the clinical consequences related to orthopedic and neurological diseases and ergonomics. However, to support clinical decisions and characterize backpack carriage, muscle synergies can help with understanding the alterations induced in this condition at the motor control level. In this study, we investigated how children adjust the recruitment of motor patterns during locomotion, when greater muscular demands are required (backpack carriage). Twenty healthy male children underwent an instrumental gait analysis and muscle synergies extraction during three walking conditions: self-selected, fast and load conditions. In the fast condition, a reduction in the number of synergies (three to four) was needed for reconstructing the EMG signal with the same accuracy as in the other conditions (three to five). Synergies were grouped in only four clusters in the fast condition, while five clusters were needed for the self-selected condition. The right number of clusters was not clearly identified in the load condition. Speed and backpack carriage altered nearly every spatial–temporal parameter of gait, whereas kinematic alterations reflected mainly hip and pelvis adaptations. Although the synergistic patterns were consistent across conditions, indicating a similar motor pattern in different conditions, the fast condition required fewer synergies for reconstructing the EMG signal with the same level of accuracy.
Databáze: Directory of Open Access Journals
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