Joint synergies during walking and its change with growth and evolution

2017 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 25282183
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (B)
• Allocation Type: Partial Multi-year Fund
• Section: 一般
• Research Field: Developmental mechanisms and the body works
• Research Institution: Yamaguchi University
• Principal Investigator: Nishii Jun 山口大学, 大学院創成科学研究科, 教授 (00242040)
• Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha): 垣内田 翔子 鹿児島工業高等専門学校, 電気電子工学科, 助教 (90638537) ; 橋爪 善光 九州情報大学, 経営情報学部, 講師 (20779847)
• Co-Investigator(Renkei-kenkyūsha): OGIHARA Naomichi 慶応大学, 理工学部, 教授 (70324605) ; IIDA Yukako 駿河台大学, 現代文化学部, 講師 (30548277)
• Project Period (FY): 2013-04-01 – 2018-03-31
• Keywords: 関節間シナジー / 二足歩行 / ニホンザル / 成長 / 加齢 / UCM解析 / 身体性

Outline of Final Research Achievements

We conducted research to clarify the control strategy in bipedal walking and its change with growth and evolution from the viewpoint of joint synergy and obtained the following results. Joint synergies which adjust the toe position were observed at some specific moments such as the double support phase in young subjects around the age of 20 years. In eight-year-old children, the formation of joint synergy is still in development, while differences in joint synergies between young subjects and elderly subjects around 70 years old were not recognized. The synergies observed in Japanese macaques differed from those in humans in various aspects, suggesting that expansion of the hip joint range during the evolutionary process was an essential factor for the formation of human joint synergy. The joint synergy of the passive walker suggested that not only the nervous system but also the skeletal structure contributes to the formation of joint synergy in humans.

Free Research Field

生体情報システム論