Adaptation of walking patterns to bilateral loaded walking

Motor adaptation is the process of adjusting motor commands to perform a movement task under altered conditions. The ability and time needed to adapt to an exoskeleton may be crucial to their acceptance and effectiveness. The mechanical changes with exoskeletons are multi-faceted. Therefore, this study focused only on the additional mass and aimed to investigate motor adaptation to bilaterally loaded walking. Six females and six males (24.6±3.8y; 173.3±9.4cm; 66.4±10.1kg) walked with and without weight cuffs attached to their thighs and shanks on a treadmill. Spatio-temporal parameters and lower-limb sagittal angles did not show the hypothesized adaptation progressions and after-effects. Yet, angle-angle diagrams exhibited patterns that may reflect adaptation. Adaptation may occur in the interplay of the lower limb segments, reflecting underlying motor control processes.