Reduced center of mass acceleration during regular walking with electromyography biofeedback

Background: Regular walking in healthy adults is known to be kinematically stable, but it is unclear how to further kinematically stabilize regular walking. Electromyography biofeedback (EMG-BF) during walking improves walking ability in patients. However, the effect of EMG-BF on walking stability in healthy adults is unknown. Therefore, this study aimed to investigate whether EMG-BF enhances the stability of regular walking in healthy adults.

Research question: Does the EMG-BF enhance the stability of regular walking in healthy adults?

Methods: Auditory biofeedback of single muscle activity was given to twelve participants during regular walking. The target muscles were the ankle plantar flexor, ankle dorsiflexor, and knee flexor. We compared the root mean square of the center of mass acceleration (RMS-CoM_acc), which represents walking smoothness, between biofeedback conditions.

Results: We found that EMG-BF during regular walking partially reduced the RMS-CoM_acc (p = 0.01). In particular, biofeedback of the ankle plantar flexor muscle reduced the RMS-CoM_acc in both the anteroposterior and vertical directions. In the mediolateral RMS-CoM_acc, no significant difference was found (p = 0.24).

Significance: Our study is novel because it is the first study to reveal the impact of EMG-BF on the stability of walking among healthy adults. It identifies the key muscles for EMG-BF, potentially leading to the development of a more effective EMG-BF system in the rehabilitation. Especially, biofeedback of the ankle plantar flexor muscle could improve walking stability in both the anteroposterior and vertical directions. The effect of EMG-BF for reducing the RMS-CoM_acc during regular walking might depend on the target muscles of biofeedback.