Establishment of walking ability improvement program using the auditory rhythm

2013 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 23700621
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Young Scientists (B)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Research Field: Rehabilitation science/Welfare engineering
• Research Institution: Teikyo Heisei University
• Principal Investigator: SAITO Kotoko 帝京平成大学, 地域医療学部, 講師 (20599758)
• Co-Investigator(Renkei-kenkyūsha): SUGAWARA Kenichi 神奈川県立保健福祉大学, 保健福祉学部, 教授 (90280198) ; MURAOKA Yoshihiro 早稲田大学, 人間科学学術院, 准教授 (10338254)
• Project Period (FY): 2011 – 2012
• Keywords: 歩行 / リハビリテーション / リズム / 学習 / 高齢者 / 片麻痺者

Outline of Final Research Achievements

We determined the effects of relative timing during locomotion control, as reflected by rhythm generation and changes in muscle activities, when young, community-based elderly, and hemiplegic persons walked at different paces, and investigated changes in their gait performance due to improvement of the relative timing. The results demonstrated that the relative timing remained unchanged for a certain walking form in healthy young persons and the elderly. In contrast, timing that was individualized according to the walking pace was observed and there was relative timing due to different walking speeds in the hemiplegic persons who presented with a decline in gait performance. After the hemiplegic persons repeatedly learned about individualized timing, their walking speed improved.

Free Research Field

人間医工学