The Role of Perturbed Auditory Information for Self-motion in Gait
Objective: When people interact with objects such as opening a door, their movements make sounds that are associated with the success of the action. Similarly, when people walk their footsteps make sounds that are audible. It is possible that these sounds are used as feedback to stabilize and adapt movement. There is some evidence for such a connection between the auditory and motor systems in activities of daily living, the the empirical work is insufficient and direct. The objective of the project is to address this gap by investigating the functional connection between gait dynamics and stepping sounds.
Significance: Falls can be debilitating events, specifically for older adults. Some of the same older adults who have a tendency to fall also have hearing difficulties. This project will investigate whether individuals listen to their own footsteps while walking.
Approach: In each of the three proposed studies, the delay and amplitude of self-produced footstep sounds will be manipulated while young healthy adults are performing a self-paced treadmill walking task. To this end, a gait real-time analysis interactive lab will be programmed. The apparatus consists of an instrumented treadmill and virtual reality sound projection capability. One study will use fNIRS to focus on measures associated with attentonal demand. A second study will use a combination of mobile EEG and EMG to investigate cortico-spinal synchronization. The third study will evaluate whether repetitive sessions of so-called stealth walking hold potential for improving gait dynamics and variability. The study will involve five visits to the lab. Participants' task will be to step so as to minimize the otherzie augmented feedback from their footstep sounds. Change in gait parameters from pre- to post- training will be compared to a control group.
Impact: This work will bring awareness to the link between physical mobility and hearing ability. This project will create avenues for the Junior Investigator to participate in the development of gait-monitoring and warning systems. The hearing-aids industry is at a game-changing point where it is commercially viable to integrate motion sensing and data processing, creating exciting potential for large-sample longitudinal studies on mobility in the real-world.
Contact us at unobiomechanics@unomaha.edu about participating in this research.
If you are interested in joining the research team, please contact Dr. Dotov at ddotov@unomaha.edu.