Cerebellar Ataxia Patients: How do waist pull perturbations affect their walking?

April 18, 2019

Damage to the cerebellum can affect neural structures involved in locomotion, causing gait and balance disorders. The question we posed in this paper published in JNER if the integrity of cerebellum is critical in managing sudden and unexpected  disturbances during walking. Ten participants with cerebellar ataxia and eight age-matched healthy adults underwent a single session where the Active Tethered Pelvic Assist Device (TPAD) applied unexpected waist-pull perturbations while participants walked on a treadmill. Spatio-temporal parameters and dynamic stability were determined during corrective responses and steady locomotion, before and after the training. 

Data analysis revealed that individuals with cerebellar ataxia behaved differently from healthy volunteers. They retained a wider base of support during corrective responses and steady gait both before and after the training. The patients improved their anterior-posterior margin of stability during steady walking only. These results reveal that participants with cerebellar ataxia can still rely on their learning capability to modify the gait towards a safer behavior. 

See the full  publication here