Seeing Gravity: Gait Adaptations to Visual and Physical Inclines – A Virtual Reality Study
Using advanced virtual reality technology, we demonstrate that exposure to virtual inclinations visually simulating inclined walking induces gait modulations in a manner consistent with expected gravitational forces (i.e., acting upon a free body), suggesting vision-based perception of gravity. The...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Frontiers Media S.A.
2020-01-01
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| Series: | Frontiers in Neuroscience |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fnins.2019.01308/full |
| _version_ | 1818037388443648000 |
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| author | Desiderio Cano Porras Desiderio Cano Porras Desiderio Cano Porras Gabriel Zeilig Gabriel Zeilig Glen M. Doniger Glen M. Doniger Glen M. Doniger Yotam Bahat Rivka Inzelberg Rivka Inzelberg Rivka Inzelberg Meir Plotnik Meir Plotnik Meir Plotnik |
| author_facet | Desiderio Cano Porras Desiderio Cano Porras Desiderio Cano Porras Gabriel Zeilig Gabriel Zeilig Glen M. Doniger Glen M. Doniger Glen M. Doniger Yotam Bahat Rivka Inzelberg Rivka Inzelberg Rivka Inzelberg Meir Plotnik Meir Plotnik Meir Plotnik |
| author_sort | Desiderio Cano Porras |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Using advanced virtual reality technology, we demonstrate that exposure to virtual inclinations visually simulating inclined walking induces gait modulations in a manner consistent with expected gravitational forces (i.e., acting upon a free body), suggesting vision-based perception of gravity. The force of gravity critically impacts the regulation of our movements. However, how humans perceive and incorporate gravity into locomotion is not well understood. In this study, we introduce a novel paradigm for exposing humans to incongruent sensory information under conditions constrained by distinct gravitational effects, facilitating analysis of the consistency of human locomotion with expected gravitational forces. Young healthy adults walked under conditions of actual physical inclinations as well as virtual inclinations. We identify and describe ‘braking’ and ‘exertion’ effects – locomotor adaptations accommodating gravito-inertial forces associated with physical inclines. We show that purely visual cues (from virtual inclinations) induce consistent locomotor adaptations to counter expected gravity-based changes, consistent with indirect prediction mechanisms. Specifically, downhill visual cues activate the braking effect in anticipation of a gravitational boost, whereas uphill visual cues promote an exertion effect in anticipation of gravitational deceleration. Although participants initially rely upon vision to accommodate environmental changes, a sensory reweighting mechanism gradually reprioritizes body-based cues over visual ones. A high-level neural model outlines a putative pathway subserving the observed effects. Our findings may be pivotal in designing virtual reality-based paradigms for understanding perception and action in complex environments with potential translational benefits. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-10T07:26:03Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-390f70d91ae549be9bb5d1c3baf1fb71 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1662-453X |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-10T07:26:03Z |
| publishDate | 2020-01-01 |
| publisher | Frontiers Media S.A. |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Frontiers in Neuroscience |
| spelling | doaj.art-390f70d91ae549be9bb5d1c3baf1fb712022-12-22T01:57:42ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Neuroscience1662-453X2020-01-011310.3389/fnins.2019.01308466900Seeing Gravity: Gait Adaptations to Visual and Physical Inclines – A Virtual Reality StudyDesiderio Cano Porras0Desiderio Cano Porras1Desiderio Cano Porras2Gabriel Zeilig3Gabriel Zeilig4Glen M. Doniger5Glen M. Doniger6Glen M. Doniger7Yotam Bahat8Rivka Inzelberg9Rivka Inzelberg10Rivka Inzelberg11Meir Plotnik12Meir Plotnik13Meir Plotnik14Center of Advanced Technologies in Rehabilitation, Sheba Medical Center, Ramat Gan, IsraelSackler Faculty of Medicine, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, IsraelPerception and Action in Complex Environments, Marie Curie International Training Network, European Union’s Horizons 2020 Research and Innovation Program, Brussels, BelgiumDepartment of Neurological Rehabilitation, Sheba Medical Center, Ramat Gan, IsraelDepartment of Physical and Rehabilitation Medicine, Sackler Faculty of Medicine, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, IsraelCenter of Advanced Technologies in Rehabilitation, Sheba Medical Center, Ramat Gan, IsraelDepartment of Clinical Research, NeuroTrax Corporation, Modiin, IsraelThe Joseph Sagol Neuroscience Center, Sheba Medical Center, Ramat Gan, IsraelCenter of Advanced Technologies in Rehabilitation, Sheba Medical Center, Ramat Gan, IsraelSagol School of Neuroscience, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, IsraelDepartment of Neurology and Neurosurgery, Sackler Faculty of Medicine, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel0Department of Applied Mathematics and Computer Science, The Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot, IsraelCenter of Advanced Technologies in Rehabilitation, Sheba Medical Center, Ramat Gan, IsraelSagol School of Neuroscience, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel1Department of Physiology and Pharmacology, Sackler Faculty of Medicine, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, IsraelUsing advanced virtual reality technology, we demonstrate that exposure to virtual inclinations visually simulating inclined walking induces gait modulations in a manner consistent with expected gravitational forces (i.e., acting upon a free body), suggesting vision-based perception of gravity. The force of gravity critically impacts the regulation of our movements. However, how humans perceive and incorporate gravity into locomotion is not well understood. In this study, we introduce a novel paradigm for exposing humans to incongruent sensory information under conditions constrained by distinct gravitational effects, facilitating analysis of the consistency of human locomotion with expected gravitational forces. Young healthy adults walked under conditions of actual physical inclinations as well as virtual inclinations. We identify and describe ‘braking’ and ‘exertion’ effects – locomotor adaptations accommodating gravito-inertial forces associated with physical inclines. We show that purely visual cues (from virtual inclinations) induce consistent locomotor adaptations to counter expected gravity-based changes, consistent with indirect prediction mechanisms. Specifically, downhill visual cues activate the braking effect in anticipation of a gravitational boost, whereas uphill visual cues promote an exertion effect in anticipation of gravitational deceleration. Although participants initially rely upon vision to accommodate environmental changes, a sensory reweighting mechanism gradually reprioritizes body-based cues over visual ones. A high-level neural model outlines a putative pathway subserving the observed effects. Our findings may be pivotal in designing virtual reality-based paradigms for understanding perception and action in complex environments with potential translational benefits.https://www.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fnins.2019.01308/fullvirtual realityperception and actionsensorimotor integrationgravitylocomotionvision |
| spellingShingle | Desiderio Cano Porras Desiderio Cano Porras Desiderio Cano Porras Gabriel Zeilig Gabriel Zeilig Glen M. Doniger Glen M. Doniger Glen M. Doniger Yotam Bahat Rivka Inzelberg Rivka Inzelberg Rivka Inzelberg Meir Plotnik Meir Plotnik Meir Plotnik Seeing Gravity: Gait Adaptations to Visual and Physical Inclines – A Virtual Reality Study Frontiers in Neuroscience virtual reality perception and action sensorimotor integration gravity locomotion vision |
| title | Seeing Gravity: Gait Adaptations to Visual and Physical Inclines – A Virtual Reality Study |
| title_full | Seeing Gravity: Gait Adaptations to Visual and Physical Inclines – A Virtual Reality Study |
| title_fullStr | Seeing Gravity: Gait Adaptations to Visual and Physical Inclines – A Virtual Reality Study |
| title_full_unstemmed | Seeing Gravity: Gait Adaptations to Visual and Physical Inclines – A Virtual Reality Study |
| title_short | Seeing Gravity: Gait Adaptations to Visual and Physical Inclines – A Virtual Reality Study |
| title_sort | seeing gravity gait adaptations to visual and physical inclines a virtual reality study |
| topic | virtual reality perception and action sensorimotor integration gravity locomotion vision |
| url | https://www.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fnins.2019.01308/full |
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