Role of the unperturbed limb and arms in the reactive recovery response to an unexpected slip during locomotion

Understanding reactive recovery responses to slipping is fundamental in falls research and prevention. The primary purpose of this study was to investigate the role of the unperturbed limb and arms in the reactive recovery response to an unexpected slip. Ten healthy, young adults participated in this experiment in which an unexpected slip was induced by a set of steel free-wheeling rollers. Surface electromyography (EMG) data were collected from the unperturbed limb (i.e., the swing limb) rectus femoris, biceps femoris, tibialis anterior, and the medial head of gastrocnemius, and bilateral gluteus medius, erector spinae, and deltoids. Kinematic data were also collected by an optical imaging system to monitor limb trajectories. The first slip response was significantly different from the subsequent recovery responses to the unexpected slips, with an identifiable reactive recovery response and no proactive changes in EMG patterns. The muscles of the unperturbed limb, upper body, and arms were recruited at the same latency as those previously found for the perturbed limb. The arm elevation strategies assisted in shifting the center of mass forward after it was posteriorly displaced with the slip, while the unperturbed limb musculature demonstrated an extensor strategy supporting the observed lowering of the limb to briefly touch the ground to widen the base of support and to increase stability. Evidently a dynamic multi-limb coordinated strategy is employed by the CNS to control and coordinate the upper and lower limbs in reactive recovery responses to unexpected slips during locomotion.