Importance of binocular vision in foot placement accuracy when stepping onto a floor-based target during gait initiation.
This study investigated the importance of binocular vision to foot placement accuracy when stepping onto a floor-based target during gait initiation. Starting from stationary, participants placed alternate feet onto targets sequentially positioned along a straight travel path with the added constraint that the initial target (target 1) could move in the medio-lateral (M-L) direction. Repeated trials when target 1 remained stationary or moved laterally at the instant of lead-limb toe-off (TO) or 200 ms after TO (early swing) were undertaken under binocular and monocular viewing. Catch trials when target 1 shifted medially were also undertaken. Foot-reach kinematics, foot trajectory corrections and foot placement accuracy for the step onto target 1 were determined via 3D motion analyses. Peak foot-reach velocity and initial foot-reach duration were unaffected by vision condition but terminal foot-reach duration was prolonged under monocular conditions (p = 0.002). Foot trajectory alteration onsets were unaffected by vision condition, but onsets occurred sooner when the target shifted in early swing compared to at TO (p = 0.033). M-L foot placement accuracy decreased (p = 0.025) and variability increased (p = 0.05) under monocular conditions, particularly when stepping onto the moving target. There was no difference between vision conditions in A-P foot placement accuracy. Results indicate that monocular vision provides sufficient information to determine stepping distance and correctly transport the foot towards the target but binocular vision is required to attain a precise M-L foot placement; particularly so when stepping onto a moving target. These findings are in agreement with those found in the reaching and grasping literature, indicating that binocular vision is important for end-point precision.
School of Health Sciences, University of Salford, Salford M6 6PU, UK.
Graham J
GJ
Chapman
Andy
A
Scally
John G
JG
Buckley
D000328:Adult; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D001288:Attention; D001696:Biomechanical Phenomena; D005260:Female; D005430:Floors and Floorcoverings; D005528:Foot / Q000294:innervation*; D005684:Gait / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D008124:Locomotion / Q000502:physiology*; D008297:Male; D011597:Psychomotor Performance / Q000502:physiology*; D015348:Vision, Binocular / Q000502:physiology*; D055815:Young Adult