Interlimb communication following unexpected changes in treadmill velocity during human walking

Interlimb reflexes play an important role in human walking, particularly when dynamic stability is threatened by external perturbations or changes in the walking surface. Interlimb reflexes have recently been demonstrated in the contralateral biceps femoris (cBF) following knee joint rotations applied to the ipsilateral leg (iKnee) during the late stance phase of human gait (Stevenson et al. 2013). This interlimb reflex likely acts to slow the forward progression of the body in order to maintain dynamic stability following the perturbations. We examined this hypothesis by unexpectedly increasing or decreasing the velocity of the treadmill before (-100 ms and -50 ms), at the same time, or following (+50 ms) the onset of iKnee perturbations in twelve healthy volunteers. We quantified the cBF reflex amplitude when the iKnee perturbation was delivered alone, the treadmill velocity change was delivered alone, or when the two perturbations were combined. When the treadmill velocity was suddenly increased (or decreased) 100 or 50 ms prior to the iKnee perturbations, the combined cBF reflex was significantly larger (or smaller) than the algebraic sum of the two perturbations delivered separately. Furthermore, unexpected changes in treadmill velocity increased the incidence of reflexes in other contralateral leg muscles when the iKnee perturbations were elicited alone. These results suggest a context dependency for interlimb reflexes. They also show that the cBF reflex changed in a predictable manner to slow the forward progression of the body and maintaining dynamic stability during walking, thus signifying a functional role for interlimb reflexes.