Interlimb transfer of motor skill learning during walking: No evidence for asymmetric transfer.
Chandramouli Krishnan, Rajiv Ranganathan, Manik Tetarbe
PMID 28482202WHAT IT FOUND
No evidence that transfer was greater from one leg to the other was found in healthy adults after one leg practiced foot trajectory tracking on a treadmill.
Transfer occurred with visual feedback, but not without visual feedback.
Key findings
01With visual feedback, the untrained leg's tracking error improved from 17.8% to 13.9% after practice on the other leg.
02The right-to-left and left-to-right groups did not differ in this initial transfer with visual feedback.
03Without visual feedback, there was no significant transfer to the untrained leg.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for PTs
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What it does not show
Participants were healthy adults, so the findings do not show what happens in patients with stroke or other gait deficits. Only 20 people took part, so the null result for asymmetry may be unstable. The study tested short-term performance and did not check whether transfer lasted after a delay. Transfer was seen only with visual feedback, so the finding may not apply to walking without real-time feedback.
Declared interests
The authors declared no conflicts of interest.
The easy way to misread this
Do not conclude that one leg is better for gait training in patients. The study found no evidence that transfer was greater from one leg to the other in healthy adults, and transfer was seen only with visual feedback.