Adapting Footfall Rhythmicity to Auditory Perturbations Affects Resilience of Locomotor Behavior: A Proof-of-Concept Study

For humans, the ability to effectively adapt footfall rhythm to perturbations is critical for stable locomotion. However, only limited information exists regarding how dynamic stability changes when individuals modify their footfall rhythm. In this study, we recorded 3D kinematic activity from 20 participants (13 males, 18–30 years old) during walking on a treadmill while synchronizing with an auditory metronome sequence individualized to their baseline walking characteristics. The sequence then included unexpected temporal perturbations in the beat intervals with the subjects required to adapt their footfall rhythm accordingly. Building on a novel approach to quantify resilience of locomotor behavior, this study found that, in response to auditory perturbation, the mean center of mass (COM) recovery time across all participants who showed deviation from steady state (N = 15) was 7.4 (8.9) s. Importantly, recovery of footfall synchronization with the metronome beats after perturbation was achieved prior (+3.4 [95.0% CI +0.1, +9.5] s) to the recovery of COM kinematics. These results highlight the scale of temporal adaptation to perturbations and provide implications for understanding regulation of rhythm and balance. Thus, our study extends the sensorimotor synchronization paradigm to include analysis of COM recovery time toward improving our understanding of an individual’s resilience to perturbations and potentially also their fall risk.