Biology subjects

Dal Maso, F.

Publications and source records attributed to Dal Maso, F..

3 recordsLinked to original sources

bioRxiv2026

Maturation of Gait: Identification of Locomotor Profiles from Early Childhood to Adulthood

BackgroundHuman gait is a key marker of motor development. While walking on even surface is well-documented, responses to irregular surfaces, closer to real-world environments, remain understudied. This limitation is reinforced by the frequent use of univariate analyses, though locomotor control emerges from interactions of multiple features. Multivariate approaches are therefore essential to characterize developmental modulations to uneven surfaces. Objectives(i) To evaluate the combined effects of age and surface complexity on multiple gait domains in healthy individuals during development; (ii) To identify locomotor profiles across gait maturation. MethodsSixty-eight participants (2-35 years) walked at a self-selected speed on even, medium, and high irregularity surfaces. Gait kinematics were captured using a 3D motion system. Linear Mixed Models evaluated age and surface effects on 28 variables across five domains: pace, rhythm, dynamic stability, variability, and asymmetry. Moreover, principal component analysis followed by k-means clustering was performed on 15 normalized variables to identify gait profiles. ResultsAge and surface influenced most variables (p<0.05). Young children (2-5 years) exhibited the greatest modulation of asymmetry, base of support, smoothness, and dynamic stability with surface complexity. Conversely, adults and adolescents (12-35 years) showed higher variability modulation on irregular surface. PCA-assisted clustering identified two clusters: Cluster1 (15.2 years, smooth-regular) and Cluster2 (6.1 years, wide-base-variable). Across surfaces, five subgroups emerged: two consistent (15.8 years in Cluster1; 5.4 years in Cluster2) and three switchers (8.5 years [7.6-12.8]) showing context-dependent transitions as surface complexity increased. DiscussionDifferential maturation and surface sensitivity suggest that irregular surfaces act as functional stressors, revealing developmental gaps hidden on even ground. The surface-dependent transition at 7-13 years suggests that locomotor maturity is task-dependent rather than a fixed state, shifting from stable, regular to a variability-driven, balance-supportive strategy with complexity. These profiles delineate developmental stages and may help to identify atypical trajectories in pediatric rehabilitation.

bioengineering↗

bioRxiv2024

The Ramp protocol: uncovering individual differences in walking to an auditory beat using TeensyStep

Intentionally walking to the beat of an auditory stimulus seems effortless for most humans. However, studies have revealed significant individual differences in the spontaneous tendency to synchronize. Some individuals tend to adapt their walking pace to the beat, while others show little or no adjustment. To fill this gap we introduce the Ramp protocol, which measures spontaneous adaptation to a change in an auditory rhythmic stimulus in a gait task. First, participants walk at their preferred cadence without stimulation. After several steps, a metronome is presented, timed to match the participants heel-strike. Then, the metronome tempo progressively departs from the participants cadence by either accelerating or decelerating. The implementation of the Ramp protocol required real-time detection of heel-strike and auditory stimuli aligned with participants preferred cadence. To achieve this, we developed the TeensyStep device, which we validated compared to a gold standard for step detection. We also demonstrated the sensitivity of the Ramp protocol to individual differences in the spontaneous response to a tempo-changing rhythmic stimulus by introducing a new measure: the Response Score. This new method and quantification of spontaneous response to rhythmic stimuli holds promise for highlighting and distinguishing different profiles of adaptation in a gait task.

neuroscience↗

bioRxiv2023

Corticopostural functional and effective connectivity reveal cortical control of postural sway velocity during quiet standing

BackgroundDespite a large body of evidence showing the involvement of the sensorimotor cortex in postural control, its exact role remains unclear. Models of postural control outcomes suggested that the velocity of the center of pressure is a crucial parameter to maintain balance. Inspired by corticokinematic coherence, we hypothesized that cortical oscillations and the velocity of the center of pressure (CoP) would synchronize and that this synchronization would increase with postural task difficulty during quiet standing. MethodsWe compared the magnitude of coherence and Granger causality computed between brain oscillations recorded with electroencephalography and the center of pressure velocity in the Delta and Theta frequency bands obtained from 23 participants performing four quiet standing tasks with various levels of difficulty. The effect of postural task difficulty and information flow direction were tested with a linear mixed model while non-parametric correlations were computed between coherence magnitude and postural performance measured by 95% confidence ellipse area and mean center of pressure velocity. ResultsWe found significant coherence between the Cz EEG electrode and CoP velocity in the Delta and Theta frequency bands. This EEG-CoP velocity coherence significantly increased with task difficulty in the Delta (F = 18.8, p < 0.001) and Theta (F = 7.83, p < 0.001) bands. Granger causality significantly increased with task difficulty (F = 12.5, p < 0.001) and was higher in the efferent than afferent direction (F = 78, p < 0.001). The 95% confidence ellipse area was correlated to coherence magnitude in the most difficult condition. Participants showing significant Granger causality in the afferent direction showed more stable postural outcomes. ConclusionOur results confirm that the CoP velocity has a crucial role in postural control through its synchronization with sensorimotor cortex oscillations. The efferent information predominance suggests that posture is partly controlled by the sensorimotor cortex by a mechanism named corticopostural coherence. Our results show that this corticopostural coherence could represent a mechanism for controlling balance during quiet standing.

neuroscience↗