Presentation
Exploring the Effects of Environmental Context on Neuromuscular Coordination Complexity During Walking: Implications for Occupational Safety
SessionThursday Poster Session
DescriptionFalls, slips, and trips remain among the leading causes of workplace injury in the U.S., with nearly 480,000 nonfatal and 885 fatal incidents reported in 2023. Workers routinely walk across varied surfaces, yet most gait research is performed on treadmills, which may not reflect the neuromuscular demands of real-world locomotion. This study examined whether environmental context alters neuromuscular control complexity during walking and what that means for occupational safety assessments.
Twenty-four healthy young adults walked at preferred and fixed speeds (1.2 m/s) under three conditions: treadmill, indoor overground, and outdoor overground. Surface EMG from trunk and lower-limb muscles was decomposed using non-negative matrix factorization to quantify muscle synergies and the variance accounted for by the first synergy (VAF₁).
The number of synergies required to explain 90% of variance did not differ across environments, but VAF₁ was significantly higher during treadmill walking, reflecting increased dominance of a weight-acceptance coordination module and reduced neuromuscular adaptability. These findings suggest treadmill-based assessments may underestimate the flexibility required for real-world walking and support incorporating ecologically relevant environments into occupational gait evaluations
Twenty-four healthy young adults walked at preferred and fixed speeds (1.2 m/s) under three conditions: treadmill, indoor overground, and outdoor overground. Surface EMG from trunk and lower-limb muscles was decomposed using non-negative matrix factorization to quantify muscle synergies and the variance accounted for by the first synergy (VAF₁).
The number of synergies required to explain 90% of variance did not differ across environments, but VAF₁ was significantly higher during treadmill walking, reflecting increased dominance of a weight-acceptance coordination module and reduced neuromuscular adaptability. These findings suggest treadmill-based assessments may underestimate the flexibility required for real-world walking and support incorporating ecologically relevant environments into occupational gait evaluations
Event Type
Poster
TimeThursday, October 22nd5:30pm - 6:30pm PDT
Location
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