Study on Brain Activity and Walking Speed Is Published
While the simple act of walking may seem like second nature to most individuals, what’s really happening in the brain. How is it reacting to different surfaces and what happens to it as the individual walks at different speeds?
In, ‘Electrical Brain Activity during Human Walking with Parametric Variations in Terrain Unevenness and Walking Speed’ Yenisel Cruz-Almeida, alongside fellow researchers from the University of Florida and beyond, used sensors to measure brain activity of people walking on surfaces like flat ground, sand, and stones, while varying their walking speeds. They found that walking on uneven surfaces or changing speed led to different patterns of brain activity compared to walking on flat ground at a steady pace.
The findings of this study suggest that our brains are actively adapting to help us move more efficiently and safely in different environments and leave open possibilities to further study how the brain triggers and changes to accommodate gait speed, age and existing or underlying pain!
The study has been published in Imaging Neuroscience!
Learn more here!