Trajectory and asymmetry of lower limb joint moments during normal and blindfolded gait.
Naruyoshi Komuro, Akira Hirosawa, Tatsuya Sano and 5 others
PMID 40895759WHAT IT FOUND
Blindfolding healthy men caused their gait trajectory to deviate left and their pelvis and thorax to rotate left.
This was accompanied by reduced asymmetry in ankle and knee joint moments. The findings suggest trunk proprioception influences straight-line walking and lower-limb mechanics.
Key findings
01Blindfolded walking caused a significant leftward deviation in gait trajectory compared to full-vision walking.
02The asymmetry of the ankle frontal moment at loading response and the knee frontal moment at mid-stance were significantly smaller during blindfolded walking.
03Standing thoracic alignment showed lateral deviation to the left and asymmetrical shape ratios in the healthy participants.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for PTsWhat it means for OTs
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What it does not show
The study included only 20 healthy men, limiting generalizability to women or clinical populations. The relationship between standing thoracic alignment and gait trajectory was not directly analyzed, so the link between trunk asymmetry and gait deviation remains speculative. Step distance and foot progression angle were not analyzed, leaving open the possibility that other frontal plane factors influenced the results. Vision was not blocked during standing measurements, so trunk alignment in the starting posture may not have perfectly matched the blindfolded gait conditions.
Declared interests
The authors declare no conflicts of interest.
The easy way to misread this
Do not conclude that trunk asymmetry causes gait deviation based on this study alone. The authors explicitly state they did not examine the relationship between thoracic alignment and progression angle, so the connection is a hypothesis, not a proven mechanism.
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