Spedden, Meaghan E;
O'Neill, George C;
West, Timothy O;
Tierney, Tim M;
Mellor, Stephanie;
Alexander, Nicholas A;
Seymour, Robert;
... Barnes, Gareth R; + view all
(2025)
Using Wearable MEG to Study the Neural Control of Human Stepping.
Sensors
, 25
(13)
, Article 4160. 10.3390/s25134160.
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Abstract
A central challenge in movement neuroscience is developing methods for non-invasive spatiotemporal imaging of brain activity during natural, whole-body movement. We test the utility of a new brain imaging modality, optically pumped magnetoencephalography (OP-MEG), as an instrument to study the spatiotemporal dynamics of human walking. Specifically, we ask whether known physiological signals can be recovered during discrete steps involving large-scale, whole-body translation. Our findings show that by using OP-MEG, we can image the brain during large-scale, natural movements. We provide proof-of-principle evidence for movement-related changes in beta band activity during stepping vs. standing, which are source-localized to the sensorimotor cortex. This work supports the significant potential of the OP-MEG modality for addressing fundamental questions in human gait research relevant to both the physiological and pathological mechanisms of walking.
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