Arm movements during split-belt walking reveal predominant patterns of interlimb coupling

The present study examined upper and lower limb coordination during lower limb asymmetry in a split-belt walking paradigm. Eleven healthy individuals walked on a split-belt treadmill with 4 different speed ratios (2:2, 2:4, 2:6 and 2:8 km/h) and the left belt fixed at 2 km/h. Spatial (upper and lower limb movement amplitudes) and temporal (correlations between trajectories) aspects of limb movement were analyzed. Results showed that while amplitudes of the right lower limb increased and left lower limb decreased with increasing asymmetry, both upper limb amplitudes increased. Correlations between diagonal upper/lower limb trajectories increased as right belt speed became faster, suggesting increasing cross-body matching regardless of side. As the treadmill asymmetry increased, ipsilateral lower/upper limbs became more out of phase suggesting a more precise gait pattern to regulate timing between limbs. The upper limbs reached maximum horizontal displacement before the lower limbs except between the right upper limb/left lower limb for asymmetrical belt speeds. From these results, it appears the faster moving lower limb drives the motion of both upper limbs. These changes are most likely due to neural mechanisms in which upper and lower limb CPGs regulate full body movement and maintain the rhythmic locomotor pattern. (C) 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.