Stability-related foot placement control relies more on mediolateral center-of-mass velocity feedback in people with early Multiple Sclerosis
- 1University Hospital Schleswig-Holstein and Kiel University
Abstract
Impaired gait performance and stability is a key symptom often defining disease outcome in people with Multiple Sclerosis. Step-by-step foot placement control in response to variations in the center-of-mass kinematic state is a crucial gait stability mechanism, especially in the mediolateral direction. Even though it is known that people with Multiple Sclerosis are at an increased risk of falling, step-by-step foot placement control remains to be characterized in this population. Here, we explored characteristic foot placement control in ten people with early stage Multiple Sclerosis, compared to 21 controls walking at a similar average gait speed, during 1-minute steady-state treadmill walking. Kinematic data were analyzed using a linear feedback model that correlated foot placement with the center-of-mass kinematic state during the preceding swing phase. People with Multiple Sclerosis demonstrated step-by-step foot placement control in both the mediolateral and anteroposterior directions. No differences were found in foot placement precision between groups. However, foot placement responses to variations in center-of-mass velocity proved stronger in people with Multiple Sclerosis. Moreover, the contribution of mediolateral center-of-mass velocity feedback to the control mechanism was higher in people with Multiple Sclerosis as compared to neurologically healthy controls. Our results suggest that foot placement control is still retained in early clinically evident stages of Multiple Sclerosis, but is realized through differently weighted sensory feedback control.
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BibTeX
@misc{leeuwen2026stabilityrelated,
title = {{Stability-related foot placement control relies more on mediolateral center-of-mass velocity feedback in people with early Multiple Sclerosis}},
author = {A. M. van Leeuwen and R. Romijnders and J. Welzel and I. D'Ascanio and K. H. Sturner and C. Hansen and W. Maetzler},
howpublished = {medRxiv},
year = {2026},
month = aug,
doi = {10.64898/2026.08.26.26361464},
url = {https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.08.26.26361464v1},
note = {CC BY-NC-ND},
}
RIS
TY - UNPB
TI - Stability-related foot placement control relies more on mediolateral center-of-mass velocity feedback in people with early Multiple Sclerosis
AU - A. M. van Leeuwen
AU - R. Romijnders
AU - J. Welzel
AU - I. D'Ascanio
AU - K. H. Sturner
AU - C. Hansen
AU - W. Maetzler
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/08/26
PB - medRxiv
DO - 10.64898/2026.08.26.26361464
UR - https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.08.26.26361464v1
AB - Impaired gait performance and stability is a key symptom often defining disease outcome in people with Multiple Sclerosis. Step-by-step foot placement control in response to variations in the center-of-mass kinematic state is a crucial gait stability mechanism, especially in the mediolateral direction. Even though it is known that people with Multiple Sclerosis are at an increased risk of falling, step-by-step foot placement control remains to be characterized in this population. Here, we explored characteristic foot placement control in ten people with early stage Multiple Sclerosis, compared to 21 controls walking at a similar average gait speed, during 1-minute steady-state treadmill walking. Kinematic data were analyzed using a linear feedback model that correlated foot placement with the center-of-mass kinematic state during the preceding swing phase. People with Multiple Sclerosis demonstrated step-by-step foot placement control in both the mediolateral and anteroposterior directions. No differences were found in foot placement precision between groups. However, foot placement responses to variations in center-of-mass velocity proved stronger in people with Multiple Sclerosis. Moreover, the contribution of mediolateral center-of-mass velocity feedback to the control mechanism was higher in people with Multiple Sclerosis as compared to neurologically healthy controls. Our results suggest that foot placement control is still retained in early clinically evident stages of Multiple Sclerosis, but is realized through differently weighted sensory feedback control.
ER -