Passive ankle exoskeleton assistance selectively modulates triceps surae neural control during balance.
4 affiliations
- 1Université Bourgogne Europe , INSERM CAPS UMR 1093, Dijon, France.
- 2School of Biomedical Sciences, The University of Queensland , Brisbane, Queensland, Australia.
- 3Université Côte d'Azur, LAMHESS, Nice, France.
- 4Institut Universitaire de France , Paris, Île-de-France, France.
Abstract
Wearable assistive devices have potential to improve human balance, but their effectiveness remains limited by an incomplete understanding of how mechanical assistance influences neuromuscular control. This study aimed to determine the neural adaptations in the control of lower leg muscles in response to passive ankle exoskeleton assistance during standing balance tasks with varying levels of difficulty. Lower limb kinematics and kinetics were recorded to assess changes in joint dynamics and balance performance. Neural drive to the muscles was assessed by decomposing high-density electromyography signals into motor unit spike trains. Ankle exoskeleton assistance, provided by a simple spring-loaded passive device, did not alter or improve balance performance and had minimal effects on lower limb kinematics. However, exoskeleton assistance affected triceps surae neural control, but only in the soleus, by reducing neural drive, while the gastrocnemii showed no detectable changes in neural control. Together, these results demonstrate that passive exoskeleton assistance alters neural control of the triceps surae in a muscle-specific manner during balance. Understanding muscle-specific adaptations can support more effective exoskeleton design and the development of their control strategies informed by myoelectrical signals.
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BibTeX
@article{hamard2026passive,
title = {{Passive ankle exoskeleton assistance selectively modulates triceps surae neural control during balance.}},
author = {Raphaël Hamard and François Hug and Taylor J M Dick},
journal = {Journal of the Royal Society, Interface},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.1098/rsif.2025.1305},
url = {https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42869466},
note = {CC BY},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Passive ankle exoskeleton assistance selectively modulates triceps surae neural control during balance.
AU - Raphaël Hamard
AU - François Hug
AU - Taylor J M Dick
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/01
JO - Journal of the Royal Society, Interface
DO - 10.1098/rsif.2025.1305
UR - https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42869466
AB - Wearable assistive devices have potential to improve human balance, but their effectiveness remains limited by an incomplete understanding of how mechanical assistance influences neuromuscular control. This study aimed to determine the neural adaptations in the control of lower leg muscles in response to passive ankle exoskeleton assistance during standing balance tasks with varying levels of difficulty. Lower limb kinematics and kinetics were recorded to assess changes in joint dynamics and balance performance. Neural drive to the muscles was assessed by decomposing high-density electromyography signals into motor unit spike trains. Ankle exoskeleton assistance, provided by a simple spring-loaded passive device, did not alter or improve balance performance and had minimal effects on lower limb kinematics. However, exoskeleton assistance affected triceps surae neural control, but only in the soleus, by reducing neural drive, while the gastrocnemii showed no detectable changes in neural control. Together, these results demonstrate that passive exoskeleton assistance alters neural control of the triceps surae in a muscle-specific manner during balance. Understanding muscle-specific adaptations can support more effective exoskeleton design and the development of their control strategies informed by myoelectrical signals.
SN - 1742-5689
SN - 1742-5662
ER -