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Alteration of ankle kinematics and muscle activity during heel contact when walking with external loading

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Abstract

Purpose

The risk of recurrent ankle sprains could be reduced if the ankle joint is positioned in a more closed pack position (eversion and dorsiflexion) with enhanced co-activation of Tibialis Anterior (TA) and Peroneus Longus (PL) around heel contact in walking. We examined whether such alteration can be induced by augmenting ankle position error in the inversion and plantarflexion directions.

Methods

Fifteen young, healthy subjects participated in this study. They walked on a treadmill while a light weight was affixed to the dorsal–lateral side of the test foot to create afferent error signals in the inversion and plantarflexion directions. We recorded and analyzed subjects’ ankle kinematics and electromyographic (EMG) activity of TA and PL before (baseline), during (adaptation), and after (post adaptation) walking with the weight. Our analyses focused on 30 ms before and after heel contact where ankle sprains are most likely to occur.

Results

Subjects increased ankle eversion before and after heel contact during the adaptation period. This increase carried over to the post adaptation period following removal of the weight. The weight also induced an increase in the TA activity before heel contact during late adaptation, although this increase did not carry over to the post adaptation period. No significant changes were observed in ankle dorsiflexion, PL activity, and muscle co-activation.

Conclusion

Our error-driven approach is feasible to reduce ankle inversion around heel contact in walking, and may have clinical implication on intervention of recurrent ankle sprains.

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Abbreviations

TA:

Tibialis anterior

PL:

Peroneus longus

EMG:

Electromyography

LMM:

Linear mixed model

CNS:

Central nervous system

CCI:

Co-contraction index

QTM:

Qualisys track manager

IEMG:

Integrated electromyography

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Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank all subjects for their time and effort participating in this study.

Conflict of interest

We, the authors of this manuscript, affirm that we have no financial and personal relationships with other people or organizations that could inappropriately influence our work.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Physical Therapy, Movement and Rehabilitation Sciences, Bouvé College of Health Sciences, Northeastern University, 308G Robinson Hall 360 Huntington Avenue, Boston, MA, 02115, USA

    Sheng-Che Yen

  2. Department of Physical Therapy, New York University, New York, USA

    Gregory M. Gutierrez

  3. Occupational Science and Technology Department, College of Health Sciences, University of Wisconsin Milwaukee, Milwaukee, USA

    Ying-Chih Wang

  4. Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering, College of Engineering, Northeastern University, Boston, USA

    Patrick Murphy

Authors
  1. Sheng-Che Yen
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  2. Gregory M. Gutierrez
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  3. Ying-Chih Wang
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  4. Patrick Murphy
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Sheng-Che Yen.

Additional information

Communicated by Dick F. Stegeman.

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Yen, SC., Gutierrez, G.M., Wang, YC. et al. Alteration of ankle kinematics and muscle activity during heel contact when walking with external loading. Eur J Appl Physiol 115, 1683–1692 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00421-015-3154-4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00421-015-3154-4

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