title: Temporal and spatial organization of gait-related electrocortical potentials.
abstract: To advance gait rehabilitation research it is of great importance to understand the supraspinal control of walking. In this study, the temporal and spatial characteristics of averaged electrocortical activity during treadmill walking in healthy subjects was assessed. Electroencephalography data were recorded from 32 scalp locations, averaged across trials, and related to phases of the gait cycle based on the detection of left heel strike. A characteristic temporal pattern of positive and negative potentials, similar to movement-related cortical potentials, and related to the gait cycle was observed over the cortical leg representation area. Source localization analysis revealed that mainly the primary somatosensory, somatosensory association, primary motor and cingulate cortex were activated during walking. The negative peaks of the gait-related cortical potential were associated with activity predominantly in the cingulate and prefrontal cortex, while the primary motor, primary somatosensory and somatosensory association cortex were mainly active during the positive peaks. This study identified gait-related cortical potentials during walking. The results indicate a widely distributed cortical network involved in gait control.
authors.affiliation: Human Physiology, Exercise and the Brain Research Group, Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB), Brussels, Belgium. Electronic address: kknaepen@vub.ac.be.
authors.forename: Kristel
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Knaepen
authors.affiliation: Institute of Movement and Neurosciences, German Sport University, Cologne, Germany. Electronic address: Mierau@dshs-koeln.de.
authors.forename: Andreas
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Mierau
authors.affiliation: Human Physiology, Exercise and the Brain Research Group, Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB), Brussels, Belgium; Center for Neurosciences, VUB, Brussels, Belgium.
authors.forename: Helio Fernandez
authors.initials: HF
authors.lastname: Tellez
authors.affiliation: Robotics and Multibody Mechanics Research Group, VUB, Brussels, Belgium. Electronic address: dlefeber@vub.ac.be.
authors.forename: Dirk
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Lefeber
authors.affiliation: Human Physiology, Exercise and the Brain Research Group, Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB), Brussels, Belgium; School of Public Health, Tropical Medicine and Rehabilitation Sciences, James Cook University, Queensland, Australia. Electronic address: rmeeusen@vub.ac.be.
authors.forename: Romain
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Meeusen
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001921:Brain / Q000502:physiology*; D001931:Brain Mapping; D002540:Cerebral Cortex / Q000502:physiology; D004569:Electroencephalography; D005260:Female; D005684:Gait; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D011187:Posture; D013997:Time Factors; D016138:Walking
keywords: Electroencephalography; Gait; Movement-related cortical potential; Source localization