A studying of age-related changes of human walking from the viewpoint of joint synergy

2016 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 15H06821
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Research Activity Start-up
• Allocation Type: Single-year Grants
• Research Field: Rehabilitation science/Welfare engineering
• Research Institution: Kagoshima National College of Technology
• Principal Investigator: Kaichida Shoko 鹿児島工業高等専門学校, 電気電子工学科, 助教 (90638537)
• Co-Investigator(Renkei-kenkyūsha): NISHII Jun 山口大学, 大学院創成科学研究科, 教授 (00242040) ; TAKEDA Kotaro 藤田保健衛生大学, 医療科学部, 准教授 (50618733) ; HASHIZUME Yoshimitsu 九州情報大学, 経営情報学部, 講師 (20779847)
• Project Period (FY): 2015-08-28 – 2017-03-31
• Keywords: 歩行 / 加齢 / 関節間シナジー

Outline of Final Research Achievements

We examined whether the performance change such as increase in falls in older adults during walking is due to the decline of joint synergy function that adjusts the toe height or due to the increase of the variance of joint angles. Our results showed that the increase in variance of joint trajectory during walking with each step in aged subjects during walking is larger than in younger subjects. However, in both groups, joint synergies suppressed the variance of the hip position during the second double support phase and the toe height at the moment of minimum toe clearance, and no significant difference was found between them in the degree of the joint synergies over the stride period. These results suggest that older adults are suppressing the increase of the variance of the hip or toe position by changing the joint synergy.

Free Research Field

生体工学