Kinematic and Neuromuscular Adaptations in Incomplete Spinal Cord Injury after High- versus Low-Intensity Locomotor Training

This study explores how different intensities of walking training affect movement and muscle coordination in people with incomplete spinal cord injuries. Participants underwent both high-intensity and low-intensity training sessions to see which approach led to better walking mechanics. The researchers measured things like joint movement, muscle activation patterns, and walking speed to understand how each training type influenced these factors. The goal was to see if high-intensity training improves walking without causing abnormal movement patterns. The results showed that high-intensity training led to improvements in joint movement, muscle coordination, and walking speed. This suggests that pushing harder during walking training can help people with spinal cord injuries walk better.

• 1
  High-intensity locomotor training (LT) resulted in significant improvements in sagittal-plane joint excursions (hip and knee) compared to low-intensity LT.
• 2
  Neuromuscular complexity, measured by the number of synergies required to explain EMG variance, increased after high-intensity LT but not after low-intensity LT.
• 3
  Improvements in hip joint excursion were correlated with improvements in treadmill speed, suggesting a relationship between kinematic changes and locomotor function.