There is considerable evidence suggesting an innate linkage between the human
perceptual and motor systems, which evolve together and assist one another in the
production and coordination of movement. A major contributor to this relationship is
optic flow, providing movement variables such as navigation, obstacle avoidance, and
depth perception. The absence of optic flow leads to the decoupling of perception and
action, which has been shown to contribute to decrements in human movement (i.e.,
negatively impacted locomotion and posture, and slower adaptation to gait perturbations).
Despite the importance of maintaining this linkage, optic flow manipulations are often
found to be underrepresented in locomotion literature when specifically related to
rehabilitation training (i.e., treadmills). This may be a contributor to the lengthy and
exhaustive treatment plans. The literature has shown instances where reintroducing optic
flow into training protocols has shown larger gait improvements in shorter times than
typical ambulation protocols, however, the strength of the perception-action linkage in
adulthood is still not well understood and its impact not yet fully explored. Therefore, the
current research program aims to fill this gap by evaluating how the reintroduction of
optic flow into atypical gait training protocols in both healthy and gait-compromised
individuals may provide evidence that could be used to enhance rehabilitative outcomes.
This series of conceptually related experiments explores outcome enhancements through
neuromuscular level changes (Study One), the recalibration process of perception-action
given newly acquired physical constraints (Study Two), and on larger scale gait cycle
performances in a rehabilitation setting (Study Three). It is hypothesized that perception-
action coupling will lead to increases in neuromuscular elicitation in the absence of
voluntary movement (Study One), assist the recalibration process to improve measures of
spatial awareness and atypical gait parameters (Study Two), and finally, improve
rehabilitative outcomes in a spinal cord injury (SCI) ambulation protocol, both
objectively (i.e., gait parameters, dynamic balance, SCI measures) and subjectively (i.e.,
questionnaires) (Study Three). / Thesis / Master of Science (MSc)
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:mcmaster.ca/oai:macsphere.mcmaster.ca:11375/26919 |
| Date | January 2021 |
| Creators | De Melo, Kristen |
| Contributors | Lyons, Jim, Kinesiology |
| Source Sets | McMaster University |
| Language | en_US |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis |
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