中国物理B ›› 2008, Vol. 17 ›› Issue (3): 852-856.doi: 10.1088/1674-1056/17/3/021

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Decrease in Hurst exponent of human gait with aging and neurodegenerative diseases

侯凤贞1, 庄建军2, 宁新宝2, 杨小冬2, 霍铖宇2   

  1. (1)Information Management Teaching and Research Centre, Department of Basic Science, China Pharmaceutical University, Nanjing 210009, China; (2)Key Laboratory of Modern Acoustics and Department of Electronic Science and Engineering, Institute for Biomedical Electronic Engineering, Nanjing University, Nanjing 210093, China
  • 收稿日期:2007-04-03 修回日期:2007-07-29 出版日期:2008-03-04 发布日期:2008-03-04
  • 基金资助:
    Project supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No 60501003).

Decrease in Hurst exponent of human gait with aging and neurodegenerative diseases

Zhuang Jian-Jun(庄建军)a), Ning Xin-Bao(宁新宝)a)†, Yang Xiao-Dong(杨小冬)a), Hou Feng-Zhen(侯凤贞)b), and Huo Cheng-Yu(霍铖宇)a)   

  1. a Key Laboratory of Modern Acoustics and Department of Electronic Science and Engineering, Institute for Biomedical Electronic Engineering, Nanjing University, Nanjing 210093, China; b Information Management Teaching and Research Centre, Department of Basic Science, China Pharmaceutical University, Nanjing 210009, China
  • Received:2007-04-03 Revised:2007-07-29 Online:2008-03-04 Published:2008-03-04
  • Supported by:
    Project supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No 60501003).

摘要: In this paper the decrease in the Hurst exponent of human gait with aging and neurodegenerative diseases was observed by using an improved rescaled range (R/S) analysis method. It indicates that the long-range correlations of gait rhythm from young healthy people are stronger than those from the healthy elderly and the diseased. The result further implies that fractal dynamics in human gait will be altered due to weakening or impairment of neural control on locomotion resulting from aging and neurodegenerative diseases. Due to analysing short-term data sequences rather than long datasets required by most nonlinear methods, the algorithm has the characteristics of simplicity and sensitivity, most importantly, fast calculation as well as powerful anti-noise capacities. These findings have implications for modelling locomotor control and also for quantifying gait dynamics in varying physiologic and pathologic states.

关键词: dynamics, nonlinearity, Hurst exponent, locomotion

Abstract: In this paper the decrease in the Hurst exponent of human gait with aging and neurodegenerative diseases was observed by using an improved rescaled range (R/S) analysis method. It indicates that the long-range correlations of gait rhythm from young healthy people are stronger than those from the healthy elderly and the diseased. The result further implies that fractal dynamics in human gait will be altered due to weakening or impairment of neural control on locomotion resulting from aging and neurodegenerative diseases. Due to analysing short-term data sequences rather than long datasets required by most nonlinear methods, the algorithm has the characteristics of simplicity and sensitivity, most importantly, fast calculation as well as powerful anti-noise capacities. These findings have implications for modelling locomotor control and also for quantifying gait dynamics in varying physiologic and pathologic states.

Key words: dynamics, nonlinearity, Hurst exponent, locomotion

中图分类号:  (Movement)

  • 87.19.rs
05.45.Df (Fractals) 87.19.L- (Neuroscience) 87.19.X- (Diseases)