Lousin Moumdjian1, Bart Moens2, Pieter-Jan Maes2, Fanny Van Geel3, Stephan Ilsbroukx4, Sophie Borgers5, Marc Leman2, Peter Feys3. 1. REVAL Rehabilitation Research Center, Faculty of Rehabilitation Sciences, BIOMED, Hasselt University, Hasselt, Belgium; IPEM Institute of Psychoacoustics and Electronic Music, Faculty of Arts and Philosophy, Ghent University, Gent, Belgium. Electronic address: lousin.moumdjian@uhasselt.be. 2. IPEM Institute of Psychoacoustics and Electronic Music, Faculty of Arts and Philosophy, Ghent University, Gent, Belgium. 3. REVAL Rehabilitation Research Center, Faculty of Rehabilitation Sciences, BIOMED, Hasselt University, Hasselt, Belgium. 4. National MS center Melsbroek, Belgium. 5. Rehabilitation & MS Centre Overpelt, Belgium.
Abstract
BACKGROUND: In Persons with Multiple Sclerosis (PwMS), coupling walking to beats/pulses in short bursts is reported to be beneficial for cadence and perceived fatigue. However it is yet to be investigated if coupling and its effects can be sustained for longer durations, required for task-oriented training strategy in PwMS. AIMS: To investigate if PwMS compared to healthy controls (HC) sustain synchronization for 12 min when walking to music and metronome, and its effects on perceived physical and cognitive fatigue, motivation and gait compared to walking in silence. METHODS: Participants walked for 12 min in three conditions (music, metronome and silence). The tempo of the auditory conditions was individualized. Auditory-motor coupling and spatio-temporal gait parameters were measured during walking. The visual analogue scale was used for perceived fatigue, and the Likert scale for motivation. RESULTS: 27 PwMS and 28 HC participated. All participants synchronized to both stimuli, yet PwMS synchronized better to music. Overall, participants had lower cadence, speed and stride length when over time all conditions, with an exception of HC, with increasing cadence during the music condition. PwMS perceived less cognitive fatigue, no difference in perceived physical fatigue and a higher motivation walking to music compared to metronomes and silence. CONCLUSION: 12 min of uninterrupted walking was possible in PwMS in all conditions, while better synchronization, low perception of cognitive fatigue and high motivation occurred with music compared to other conditions. Coupling walking to music could offer novel paradigms for motor task-oriented training in PwMS.
BACKGROUND: In Persons with Multiple Sclerosis (PwMS), coupling walking to beats/pulses in short bursts is reported to be beneficial for cadence and perceived fatigue. However it is yet to be investigated if coupling and its effects can be sustained for longer durations, required for task-oriented training strategy in PwMS. AIMS: To investigate if PwMS compared to healthy controls (HC) sustain synchronization for 12 min when walking to music and metronome, and its effects on perceived physical and cognitive fatigue, motivation and gait compared to walking in silence. METHODS:Participants walked for 12 min in three conditions (music, metronome and silence). The tempo of the auditory conditions was individualized. Auditory-motor coupling and spatio-temporal gait parameters were measured during walking. The visual analogue scale was used for perceived fatigue, and the Likert scale for motivation. RESULTS: 27 PwMS and 28 HC participated. All participants synchronized to both stimuli, yet PwMS synchronized better to music. Overall, participants had lower cadence, speed and stride length when over time all conditions, with an exception of HC, with increasing cadence during the music condition. PwMS perceived less cognitive fatigue, no difference in perceived physical fatigue and a higher motivation walking to music compared to metronomes and silence. CONCLUSION: 12 min of uninterrupted walking was possible in PwMS in all conditions, while better synchronization, low perception of cognitive fatigue and high motivation occurred with music compared to other conditions. Coupling walking to music could offer novel paradigms for motor task-oriented training in PwMS.
Authors: Ivan Miguel Pires; Hanna Vitaliyivna Denysyuk; María Vanessa Villasana; Juliana Sá; Diogo Luís Marques; José Francisco Morgado; Carlos Albuquerque; Eftim Zdravevski Journal: Sensors (Basel) Date: 2022-01-12 Impact factor: 3.576