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Human Locomotion under Reduced Gravity Conditions: Biomechanical and Neurophysiological Considerations

Reduced gravity offers unique opportunities to study motor behavior. This paper aims at providing a review on current issues of the known tools and techniques used for hypogravity simulation and their effects on human locomotion. Walking and running rely on the limb oscillatory mechanics, and one wa...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales: Sylos-Labini, Francesca, Lacquaniti, Francesco, Ivanenko, Yuri P.
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Hindawi Publishing Corporation 2014
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4163425/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25247179
http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2014/547242
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author Sylos-Labini, Francesca
Lacquaniti, Francesco
Ivanenko, Yuri P.
author_facet Sylos-Labini, Francesca
Lacquaniti, Francesco
Ivanenko, Yuri P.
author_sort Sylos-Labini, Francesca
collection PubMed
description Reduced gravity offers unique opportunities to study motor behavior. This paper aims at providing a review on current issues of the known tools and techniques used for hypogravity simulation and their effects on human locomotion. Walking and running rely on the limb oscillatory mechanics, and one way to change its dynamic properties is to modify the level of gravity. Gravity has a strong effect on the optimal rate of limb oscillations, optimal walking speed, and muscle activity patterns, and gait transitions occur smoothly and at slower speeds at lower gravity levels. Altered center of mass movements and interplay between stance and swing leg dynamics may challenge new forms of locomotion in a heterogravity environment. Furthermore, observations in the lack of gravity effects help to reveal the intrinsic properties of locomotor pattern generators and make evident facilitation of nonvoluntary limb stepping. In view of that, space neurosciences research has participated in the development of new technologies that can be used as an effective tool for gait rehabilitation.
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spelling pubmed-41634252014-09-22 Human Locomotion under Reduced Gravity Conditions: Biomechanical and Neurophysiological Considerations Sylos-Labini, Francesca Lacquaniti, Francesco Ivanenko, Yuri P. Biomed Res Int Review Article Reduced gravity offers unique opportunities to study motor behavior. This paper aims at providing a review on current issues of the known tools and techniques used for hypogravity simulation and their effects on human locomotion. Walking and running rely on the limb oscillatory mechanics, and one way to change its dynamic properties is to modify the level of gravity. Gravity has a strong effect on the optimal rate of limb oscillations, optimal walking speed, and muscle activity patterns, and gait transitions occur smoothly and at slower speeds at lower gravity levels. Altered center of mass movements and interplay between stance and swing leg dynamics may challenge new forms of locomotion in a heterogravity environment. Furthermore, observations in the lack of gravity effects help to reveal the intrinsic properties of locomotor pattern generators and make evident facilitation of nonvoluntary limb stepping. In view of that, space neurosciences research has participated in the development of new technologies that can be used as an effective tool for gait rehabilitation. Hindawi Publishing Corporation 2014 2014-08-28 /pmc/articles/PMC4163425/ /pubmed/25247179 http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2014/547242 Text en Copyright © 2014 Francesca Sylos-Labini et al. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/ This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
spellingShingle Review Article
Sylos-Labini, Francesca
Lacquaniti, Francesco
Ivanenko, Yuri P.
Human Locomotion under Reduced Gravity Conditions: Biomechanical and Neurophysiological Considerations
title Human Locomotion under Reduced Gravity Conditions: Biomechanical and Neurophysiological Considerations
title_full Human Locomotion under Reduced Gravity Conditions: Biomechanical and Neurophysiological Considerations
title_fullStr Human Locomotion under Reduced Gravity Conditions: Biomechanical and Neurophysiological Considerations
title_full_unstemmed Human Locomotion under Reduced Gravity Conditions: Biomechanical and Neurophysiological Considerations
title_short Human Locomotion under Reduced Gravity Conditions: Biomechanical and Neurophysiological Considerations
title_sort human locomotion under reduced gravity conditions: biomechanical and neurophysiological considerations
topic Review Article
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4163425/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25247179
http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2014/547242
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