Elsevier

Human Movement Science

Volume 20, Issues 4–5, November 2001, Pages 549-562
Human Movement Science

Spontaneous transitions in the coordination of a whole body task

https://doi.org/10.1016/S0167-9457(01)00067-7Get rights and content

Abstract

This paper describes an example of spontaneous transitions between qualitatively different coordination patterns during a cyclic lifting and lowering task. Eleven participants performed 12 trials of repetitive lifting and lowering in a ramp protocol in which the height of the lower shelf was raised or lowered 1 cm per cycle between 10 and 50 cm. Two distinct patterns of coordination were evident: a squat technique in which moderate range of hip, knee and ankle movement was utilised and ankle plantar-flexion occurred simultaneously with knee and hip extension; and a stoop technique in which the range of knee movement was reduced and knee and hip extension was accompanied by simultaneous ankle dorsi-flexion. Abrupt transitions from stoop to squat techniques were observed during descending trials, and from squat to stoop during ascending trials. Indications of hysteresis was observed in that transitions were more frequently observed during descending trials, and the average shelf height at the transition was 5 cm higher during ascending trials. The transitions may be a consequence of a trade-off between the biomechanical advantages of each technique and the influence of the lift height on this trade-off.

Introduction

Spontaneous transitions between different patterns of coordinated movement have the potential to provide important information about the role of neuromuscular constraints in the coordination and control of movement. Such transitions have been very well described and modeled in cyclic movements of peripheral limbs and limb segments (fingers, hands, feet, and arms). However, with the exception of gait transitions (Abernethy, Burgess-Limerick, Engstrom, Hanna, & Neal, 1995; Diedrich & Warren, 1995; Hanna, Abernethy, Neal, & Burgess-Limerick, 2000) whole body movements have not been similarly addressed. This research explores the boundaries of applicability of this approach by investigating the characteristics of spontaneous transitions in another whole body movement – one involving repetitive lifting and lowering of a load. Lifting and lowering is a particularly attractive task for study because of the amenability of the task constraints (height, mass, frequency) to independent manipulation and the relatively detailed biomechanical modeling of the movement which has been undertaken.

The first example of spontaneous transitions in human movement to be systematically examined was bimanual finger tapping (Kelso, 1981; Yaminishi, Kawato, & Suzuki, 1980). If a person is asked to tap both index fingers at a common frequency, but 180° out of phase (i.e., one finger reaches maximum flexion at the moment the other reaches maximum extension), this mode of coordination is stable and can be maintained accurately, at least at low tapping frequencies. If the frequency of finger tapping is gradually increased, the 180° mode can be maintained for some time. However at a critical value of the tapping frequency the coordination of the fingers suddenly (within one cycle) and spontaneously (unintentionally) changes so that flexion and extension of the two fingers occurs synchronously. In-phase coordination is now the only stable mode and this mode of coordination remains stable if the tapping frequency continues to increase (Kelso, 1984).

This phenomenon has been examined in some detail (e.g., Kelso, Scholz, & Schöner, 1986; Schöner & Kelso, 1988). If tapping frequency is decreased after the transition the system remains in the in-phase mode and no second transition occurs (i.e., the system exhibits hysteresis). If the system starts at low frequency in the in-phase mode, and then frequency is increased, no spontaneous transition occurs. The in-phase mode is more stable than the out-of-phase mode (indicated by lower variability). Intentional production of intermediate relative phase modes is difficult and the resulting coordination is much more variable than the in-phase or out-of-phase modes.

Similar observations have been made of transitions between patterns of intra-limb coordination. Kelso, Buchanan, and Wallace (1991) described spontaneous transitions between in-phase and out-of-phase coordination patterns of wrist and elbow flexion and extension as a function of frequency and whether the forearm was pronated or supinated. Buchanan and Kelso (1993) extended this observation, describing spontaneous transitions as a function of changes in forearm position while frequency remained constant.

This paper concerns an example of spontaneous transitions between different patterns of lower limb coordination as function of lift height during repetitive lifting and lowering. This example of spontaneous transitions in a whole body task provides an experimental paradigm which has potential to provide considerable insight into the role of musculoskeletal constraints in determining inter-joint coordination.

Manual lifting techniques are commonly differentiated on the basis of the posture adopted to lift a load. Distinctions are typically drawn between techniques involving a posture at the start of the lift in which the knee joints are flexed only slightly, if at all, and the trunk inclined substantially (a stooped posture), and a technique involving substantial knee flexion at the start of the lift and less trunk inclination (a squat or semi-squat posture) (e.g., Grieve, 1974; Kumar, 1984; Toussaint, van Baar, van Langen, de Looze, & van Dieën, 1992). Although the biomechanical consequences of different lifting techniques have been reported (e.g., Anderson & Chaffin, 1986; Gagnon & Smyth, 1992; Kumar, 1984; see Van Dieën, Hoozemans, & Toussaint, 1999, for a recent review), and an attempt has been made to define the different techniques quantitatively (Burgess-Limerick & Abernethy, 1997a), it is not known whether these different techniques represent qualitatively different modes of manual lifting, or points on a continuum. If the former were true then spontaneous transitions between different techniques might be anticipated in appropriate circumstances. In addition to providing a fruitful paradigm for investigating mechanisms of control and coordination, the observation of spontaneous transitions would also provide a justification for the previously assumed distinction in lifting techniques, and provide a more principled basis for subsequent biomechanical investigations.

Manual lifting, whether performed discretely or repetitively, involves cycles of flexion and extension movements of limbs and trunk. The pattern of self-selected, or preferred, lifting most frequently observed involves a semi-squat posture and simultaneous knee extension, hip extension and ankle plantar-flexion (Burgess-Limerick, Abernethy, Neal, & Kippers, 1995). Stooped postures were observed less frequently, and analysis of data from individual subjects gathered in previous experiments involving discrete lifting revealed some evidence for the existence of qualitatively different modes of discrete manual lifting (bi-modal distributions in parameters describing the postures adopted to lift loads; Burgess-Limerick and Abernethy, 1997a, Burgess-Limerick and Abernethy, 1997b; see also Van Dieën, van der Burg, Raaijmakers, & Toussaint, 1988). An influence of starting height on the relative frequency of adoption of these modes was noted (stooped postures are more frequently adopted to lift loads from relatively high starting heights; Burgess-Limerick & Abernethy, 1997b; and semi-squat postures were almost always adopted to lift loads at floor height). However, transitions between different modes were not observed because, in these experiments, the lifting was either performed as discrete trials; or when repetitive lifting and lowering was examined, the experimental manipulations involved separate trials in different height conditions. The observation of transitions between different modes is impossible in the first case, and unlikely in the second. This paper describes an experimental paradigm in which such transitions were reliably observed and describes the fundamental characteristics of the phenomenon.

Section snippets

Method

Eleven participants (6 male, 5 female; aged 19–44 years) performed 12 trials of a task in which a 1 kg load was continuously raised and lowered. The lowest height of the load was indicated by a shelf connected to a computer controlled torque motor. The task involved repetitively lifting the load from this shelf to a constant height (waist level) then lowering the load back to the shelf. The height of the shelf was adjusted throughout each trial. A ramp protocol was employed for each trial such

Results

Two qualitatively different patterns of coordination were spontaneously adopted when the lifting technique was self-selected: a squat technique and a stoop technique. The squat technique is characterised by a moderate range of motion at ankle, knee, and hip joints, and in phase coordination (simultaneous ankle plantar-flexion, knee extension and hip extension). This pattern of coordination is illustrated in Fig. 1(a) in an ascending trial in which the pattern of coordination was maintained

Discussion

The observation of abrupt transitions between qualitatively different patterns of manual lifting provides a justification for the distinction which has traditionally been made between squat and stoop methods of lifting. Further, the identification of the change in phase relationships between the ankle and hip provides a means of solving the problem of how to define the techniques independent of the absolute range of motion of the knee (see Burgess-Limerick & Abernethy, 1997a).

The observation

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