Some people with Parkinson’s disease (PD) frequently have an unsteady gait with shuffling, reduced strength, and increased rigidity. This study has investigated the difference in the neuromuscular strategies of people with early-stage PD, healthy older adults (HOA) and healthy young adult (HYA) during short-distance walking. Surface electromyogram (sEMG) was recorded from tibialis anterior (TA) and medial gastrocnemius (MG) muscles along with the acceleration data from the lower leg from 72 subjects—24 people with early-stage PD, 24 HOA and 24 HYA during short-distance walking on a level surface using wearable sensors. There was a significant increase in the co-activation, a reduction in the TA modulation and an increase in the TA-MG lateral asymmetry among the people with PD during a level, straight-line walking. For people with PD, the gait impairment scale was low with an average postural instability and gait disturbance (PIGD) score = 5.29 out of a maximum score of 20. Investigating the single and double support phases of the gait revealed that while the muscle activity and co-activation index (CI) of controls modulated over the gait cycle, this was highly diminished for people with PD. The biggest difference between CI of controls and people with PD was during the double support phase of gait. The study has shown that people with early-stage PD have high asymmetry, reduced modulation, and higher co-activation. They have reduced muscle activity, ability to inhibit antagonist, and modulate their muscle activities. This has the potential for diagnosis and regular assessment of people with PD to detect gait impairments using wearable sensors.

中文翻译：

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早期帕金森病患者步行时的肌肉激活策略

一些帕金森氏病 (PD) 患者经常步态不稳，步态蹒跚、力量下降和僵硬增加。本研究调查了早期 PD、健康老年人 (HOA) 和健康年轻人 (HYA) 在短距离步行期间神经肌肉策略的差异。记录胫骨前肌 (TA) 和腓肠肌 (MG) 的表面肌电图 (sEMG) 以及来自 72 名受试者的小腿的加速度数据 - 24 名早期 PD、24 HOA 和 24 HYA 在短距离期间使用可穿戴传感器在水平表面上行走。在水平直线行走期间，PD 患者的共激活显着增加，TA 调制减少，TA-MG 横向不对称性增加。对于 PD 患者，步态障碍量表较低，平均姿势不稳定和步态障碍 (PIGD) 得分 = 5.29，最高得分为 20。调查步态的单和双支撑阶段显示，虽然肌肉活动和共激活指数（ CI）控制步态周期，这对于 PD 患者来说大大减少了。对照组的 CI 和 PD 患者之间的最大差异是在步态的双重支持阶段。该研究表明，患有早期 PD 的人具有高度的不对称性、调制减少和更高的共激活。它们具有减少的肌肉活动、抑制拮抗剂和调节其肌肉活动的能力。这有可能对 PD 患者进行诊断和定期评估，以使用可穿戴传感器检测步态障碍。