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Cardiac and gait rhythms in healthy younger and older adults during treadmill walking tasks

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Abstract

Background

Aging and pathology result in changes in the dynamics of several physiological subsystems. Often, these changes are concurrent, altering the dynamics between subsystems. Cardiac and gait rhythms are one example in which patterns change during physical activity.

Aims

The purpose of this research is to simultaneously monitor changes in cardiac and gait rhythms when participants complete various treadmill walking tasks—normal speed, fast speed, and while synchronizing steps with a blinking metronome.

Methods

The cardiac and gait rhythms of younger and older healthy adults were examined in this study during treadmill walking tasks. Pre-test and post-test walking at a preferred walking speed were compared to fast walking and walking with a gait synchronization test. Cardiac and gait rhythms were observed to calculate the mean, standard deviation, coefficient of variation, detrended fluctuation analysis scaling exponent alpha (DFA α), and sample entropy from each 15-min trial. Separate MANOVAs were used to examine the two experimental conditions for cardiac and gait rhythm variability.

Results

During the gait synchronization experiment, main effects for phase were exhibited for all gait variables, but none were shown during the fast walking task. Meanwhile, the cardiac rhythms demonstrated decreased mean and increased DFA α only during the synchronization condition.

Discussion

Participants, regardless of age, exhibited similar patterns of change in their cardiac and locomotor rhythms during the treadmill walking tasks. Cardiac rhythms were only altered during the gait synchronization task, suggesting it may be possible to simultaneously influence the variability and structure of cardiac and gait rhythms.

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Fig. 1

Adapted from Rhea et al. [5]

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Elon University, 2525 CB, Elon, NC, 27244, USA

    Matthew W. Wittstein

  2. University of North Carolina at Greensboro, Greensboro, NC, USA

    Joseph M. Starobin, Randy J. Schmitz, Sandra J. Shulz, Francis Jay Haran & Christopher K. Rhea

Authors
  1. Matthew W. Wittstein
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  2. Joseph M. Starobin
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  3. Randy J. Schmitz
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  4. Sandra J. Shulz
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  6. Christopher K. Rhea
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Correspondence to Matthew W. Wittstein.

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All procedures were approved by the University of North Carolina Greensboro Institutional Review Board.

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Wittstein, M.W., Starobin, J.M., Schmitz, R.J. et al. Cardiac and gait rhythms in healthy younger and older adults during treadmill walking tasks. Aging Clin Exp Res 31, 367–375 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40520-018-0962-5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s40520-018-0962-5

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