Influence of Backpack Carriage and Walking Speed on Muscle Synergies in Healthy Children
Four to five muscle synergies account for children’s locomotion and appear to be consistent across alterations in speed and slopes. Backpack carriage induces alterations in gait kinematics in healthy children, raising questions regarding the clinical consequences related to orthopedic and neurologic...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2024-02-01
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| Series: | Bioengineering |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2306-5354/11/2/173 |
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| author | Giorgia Marino Alessandro Scano Giulia Beltrame Cristina Brambilla Alessandro Marazzi Francesco Aparo Lorenzo Molinari Tosatti Roberto Gatti Nicola Portinaro |
| author_facet | Giorgia Marino Alessandro Scano Giulia Beltrame Cristina Brambilla Alessandro Marazzi Francesco Aparo Lorenzo Molinari Tosatti Roberto Gatti Nicola Portinaro |
| author_sort | Giorgia Marino |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Four to five muscle synergies account for children’s locomotion and appear to be consistent across alterations in speed and slopes. Backpack carriage induces alterations in gait kinematics in healthy children, raising questions regarding the clinical consequences related to orthopedic and neurological diseases and ergonomics. However, to support clinical decisions and characterize backpack carriage, muscle synergies can help with understanding the alterations induced in this condition at the motor control level. In this study, we investigated how children adjust the recruitment of motor patterns during locomotion, when greater muscular demands are required (backpack carriage). Twenty healthy male children underwent an instrumental gait analysis and muscle synergies extraction during three walking conditions: self-selected, fast and load conditions. In the fast condition, a reduction in the number of synergies (three to four) was needed for reconstructing the EMG signal with the same accuracy as in the other conditions (three to five). Synergies were grouped in only four clusters in the fast condition, while five clusters were needed for the self-selected condition. The right number of clusters was not clearly identified in the load condition. Speed and backpack carriage altered nearly every spatial–temporal parameter of gait, whereas kinematic alterations reflected mainly hip and pelvis adaptations. Although the synergistic patterns were consistent across conditions, indicating a similar motor pattern in different conditions, the fast condition required fewer synergies for reconstructing the EMG signal with the same level of accuracy. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-07T22:41:23Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-1f1640229a884598aea6782c2e3ba1af |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2306-5354 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-07T22:41:23Z |
| publishDate | 2024-02-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Bioengineering |
| spelling | doaj.art-1f1640229a884598aea6782c2e3ba1af2024-02-23T15:08:00ZengMDPI AGBioengineering2306-53542024-02-0111217310.3390/bioengineering11020173Influence of Backpack Carriage and Walking Speed on Muscle Synergies in Healthy ChildrenGiorgia Marino0Alessandro Scano1Giulia Beltrame2Cristina Brambilla3Alessandro Marazzi4Francesco Aparo5Lorenzo Molinari Tosatti6Roberto Gatti7Nicola Portinaro8Physiotherapy Unit, IRCCS Humanitas Research Hospital, via Manzoni 56, Rozzano, 20098 Milan, ItalyInstitute of Intelligent Industrial Systems and Technologies for Advanced Manufacturing (STIIMA), Italian Council of National Research (CNR), 00187 Milan, ItalyResidency Program in Orthopedics and Traumatology, Universitá degli Studi di Milano, 20126 Milan, ItalyInstitute of Intelligent Industrial Systems and Technologies for Advanced Manufacturing (STIIMA), Italian Council of National Research (CNR), 00187 Milan, ItalyDepartment of Biomedical Sciences, Humanitas University, via Rita Levi Montalcini 4, Pieve Emanuele, 20072 Milan, ItalyDepartment of Biomedical Sciences, Humanitas University, via Rita Levi Montalcini 4, Pieve Emanuele, 20072 Milan, ItalyInstitute of Intelligent Industrial Systems and Technologies for Advanced Manufacturing (STIIMA), Italian Council of National Research (CNR), 00187 Milan, ItalyPhysiotherapy Unit, IRCCS Humanitas Research Hospital, via Manzoni 56, Rozzano, 20098 Milan, ItalyResidency Program in Orthopedics and Traumatology, Universitá degli Studi di Milano, 20126 Milan, ItalyFour to five muscle synergies account for children’s locomotion and appear to be consistent across alterations in speed and slopes. Backpack carriage induces alterations in gait kinematics in healthy children, raising questions regarding the clinical consequences related to orthopedic and neurological diseases and ergonomics. However, to support clinical decisions and characterize backpack carriage, muscle synergies can help with understanding the alterations induced in this condition at the motor control level. In this study, we investigated how children adjust the recruitment of motor patterns during locomotion, when greater muscular demands are required (backpack carriage). Twenty healthy male children underwent an instrumental gait analysis and muscle synergies extraction during three walking conditions: self-selected, fast and load conditions. In the fast condition, a reduction in the number of synergies (three to four) was needed for reconstructing the EMG signal with the same accuracy as in the other conditions (three to five). Synergies were grouped in only four clusters in the fast condition, while five clusters were needed for the self-selected condition. The right number of clusters was not clearly identified in the load condition. Speed and backpack carriage altered nearly every spatial–temporal parameter of gait, whereas kinematic alterations reflected mainly hip and pelvis adaptations. Although the synergistic patterns were consistent across conditions, indicating a similar motor pattern in different conditions, the fast condition required fewer synergies for reconstructing the EMG signal with the same level of accuracy.https://www.mdpi.com/2306-5354/11/2/173muscle synergieslocomotionbackpack carriagegait analysischildren |
| spellingShingle | Giorgia Marino Alessandro Scano Giulia Beltrame Cristina Brambilla Alessandro Marazzi Francesco Aparo Lorenzo Molinari Tosatti Roberto Gatti Nicola Portinaro Influence of Backpack Carriage and Walking Speed on Muscle Synergies in Healthy Children Bioengineering muscle synergies locomotion backpack carriage gait analysis children |
| title | Influence of Backpack Carriage and Walking Speed on Muscle Synergies in Healthy Children |
| title_full | Influence of Backpack Carriage and Walking Speed on Muscle Synergies in Healthy Children |
| title_fullStr | Influence of Backpack Carriage and Walking Speed on Muscle Synergies in Healthy Children |
| title_full_unstemmed | Influence of Backpack Carriage and Walking Speed on Muscle Synergies in Healthy Children |
| title_short | Influence of Backpack Carriage and Walking Speed on Muscle Synergies in Healthy Children |
| title_sort | influence of backpack carriage and walking speed on muscle synergies in healthy children |
| topic | muscle synergies locomotion backpack carriage gait analysis children |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2306-5354/11/2/173 |
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