Grant: CIHR Fellowship

Regaining the ability to walk is an important goal for many individuals with stroke, and the demand for walking training in Canada is growing. Our research will help the health care system cope with this increasing demand by discovering more effective training methods for walking. We will study whether conscious effort during training improves or worsens the learning of walking. Adults and children, some healthy and some with stroke, will learn to walk on a split-belt treadmill. This treadmill has two belts, one for each leg, that run at different speeds. Some subjects will focus on their feet while learning to walk on the split-belt treadmill (attention group). Others will watch a TV show when split-belt walking (distraction group). We will compare how well the attention and distraction groups learn to walk on the split-belt treadmill. By testing children and adults we can study how attention level affects learning across the lifespan. By testing subjects with and without stroke we can see how an injury affects the learning of walking. Our work will help individuals with stroke become successful walkers. This will increase their quality of life and reduce their risk of health complications as they become more physically active. Our research findings can be applied quickly by health professionals, and thus our research has the potential to have an immediate, positive impact on the delivery of rehabilitation in Canada.