many roles of vision during walking

• Published in: Experimental brain research Vol. 206; no. 3; pp. 337 - 350
• Main Authors: Logan, David, Kiemel, Tim, Dominici, Nadia, Cappellini, Germana, Ivanenko, Yuri, Lacquaniti, Francesco, Jeka, John J
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Berlin/Heidelberg Berlin/Heidelberg : Springer-Verlag 01.10.2010; Springer-Verlag; Springer; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Adult; Anatomical correlates of behavior; Behavior; Behavioral psychophysiology; Biological and medical sciences; Biomedical and Life Sciences; Biomedicine; Exercise Test; Exercise Test - methods; Female; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Gait; Gait - physiology; Humans; innervation; locomotion; Locomotion - physiology; Male; Medical sciences; methods; Motion Perception; Motion perception (Vision); Motion Perception - physiology; Muscle, Skeletal; Muscle, Skeletal - innervation; Muscle, Skeletal - physiology; Neurology; Neurosciences; Ophthalmology; Photic Stimulation; Photic Stimulation - methods; Physiological aspects; physiology; Postural Balance; Postural Balance - physiology; Postural Stability; Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry; Psychology. Psychophysiology; Psychomotor Performance; Psychomotor Performance - physiology; Research Article; System theory; vision; Vision disorders; Visual Perception; Visual Perception - physiology; Walking; Walking - physiology; Young Adult; Italy; United States > US; Rome Italy; Locomotion; Vision; Postural Stability; Human; Obstacle; Gait; Orientation; Hip; Posture; Walking; Shoulder; Modulation; Kinematics; Coupling; Avoidance
• ISSN: 0014-4819; 1432-1106; 1432-1106
• DOI: 10.1007/s00221-010-2414-0

Vision can improve bipedal upright stability during standing and locomotion. However, during locomotion, vision supports additional behaviors such as gait cycle modulation, navigation, and obstacle avoidance. Here, we investigate how the multiple roles of vision are reflected in the dynamics of trunk control as the neural control problem changes from a fixed to a moving base of support. Subjects were presented with either low- or high-amplitude broadband visual stimuli during standing posture or while walking on a treadmill at 1 km/h and 5 km/h. Frequency response functions between visual scene motion (input) and trunk kinematics (output) revealed little or no change in the gain of trunk orientation in the standing posture and walking conditions. However, a dramatic increase in gain was observed in trunk (hip and shoulder) horizontal displacement from posture to locomotion. Such increases in gain may be interpreted as an increased coupling to visual scene motion. However, we believe that the increased gain reflects a decrease in stability due to a change of the control problem from standing to locomotion. Indeed, keeping the body upright with the use of vision during walking is complicated by the additional locomotor processes at work. Unlike during standing, vision plays many roles during locomotion, providing information for upright stability as well as body position relative to the external environment.