Visual attention during walking in children with… (F32HD122482) – Project Grant to University Of Southern…

Abstract: During locomotion, vision is used for both locomotor planning (looking at the path to decide where and how to walk) and visual exploration of the environment (looking at people, places, and things to gain information and interact with the world). How vision is allocated during locomotion varies based on walking stability-the ability to maintain dynamic balance and avoid falls. Moreover, across development, walking stability improves and visual guidance of locomotion decreases. The proposed project tests the central hypothesis that walking instability biases visual attention to the locomotor path at the expense of visually exploring the environment. Although planning and maintaining safe and efficient locomotion is critical, visual exploration is also critical because IT provides opportunities to learn from and about the environment. The hypothesis will be tested in 4-12-year-old children with and without cerebral palsy (CP), a disorder of posture and movement that impacts stability. Children with CP frequently use mobility aids, like walkers, to increase stability during locomotion. Therefore, to gain more insight on the effect of mobility aids on visual attention during locomotion and the role of stability in visual attention during locomotion more broadly, children with CP will be tested with and without their walker. Children will wear a mobile eye tracker to measure where they look as they walk a gently winding path surrounded by visually interesting objects of various heights. Walking stability will be assessed by measuring the percentage of time in double support and the standard deviation of trunk acceleration using wearable sensors. To better understand the impact of mobility aids on stability and visual attention, children with CP will walk with and without their walker. The primary outcome measure is the proportion of the trial time spent looking at the path. Aim 1 compares visual attention of children with and without CP as they walk a winding path without a mobility aid. Aim 2 tests the effect of mobility aids on visual attention of children with CP as they walk a winding path. Both aims will test whether measures of walking stability explain additional variance in the proportion of time looking at the path, after accounting for age and group (aim 1) and age and condition (aim 2). Through the proposed project, the fellowship training plan is designed to: (1) increase domain knowledge in (a) cerebral palsy and (b) visual function; (2) develop technical expertise in (a) mobile eye tracking, (b) wearable sensor data, and (c) clinical gait analysis; and (3) enhance professional and career development by (a) disseminating research, (b) improving grantsmanship, and (c) expanding mentoring skills. Training will occur at USC, one of the top research universities in the united states, in the division of biokinesiology and physical therapy, a national leader in rehabilitation research. Sponsors provide expertise in pediatric rehabilitation, cerebral palsy, mobile eye tracking in infants and children, wearable sensing, locomotor control, and gait analysis.

Visual attention during walking in children with and without cerebral palsy

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