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Parkinson’s Disease (PD) patients suffer from gait impairments: reduced speed, reduced step length, increased cadence and randomness in stride duration variability (disturbed Long-Range Autocorrelations (LRA)) which is correlated with postural instability1. It has been proven that treadmill walking (TW) improves PD patients’ spatiotemporal gait parameters2. But it could lead patients to adopt a too rigid gait pattern contrary to the natural stride duration variability3. Also, visual informa-tion is greatly missing during TW when it is of paramount importance to regulate gait. This study aimed to add a natural op-tical flow via a virtual reality headset during TW (VRTW) in order to study the effects of this ecological addition on gait.

Human movement is intrinsically dynamic and complex. Continuous integration of multiple sensory inputs and coordination of motor outputs are needed to achieve efficient, stable and adaptable locomotion. Both externally (e.g. environment) and/or internally (e.g. pathology) generated perturbations and the neuromechanical responses to them contribute to the fluctuating dynamics of human gait (assessed by long-range autocorrelations; LRA). Although the origin of this property is largely debated, LRA may provide important information about neuromechanical control of gait and potentially constitute a powerful marker of dysfunction. Influence of external and internal factors on human locomotion was investigated, which allowed further investigation on both possible neuromechanical origin of LRA and their potential clinical utility. The recent consideration of LRA gives rise to new way of thinking about variability, adaptability, health and motor rehabilitation. Le mouvement humain est intrinsèquement dynamique et complexe. Une locomotion efficace, stable et adaptée requiert à la fois l'intégration continue d’afférences sensorielles multiples et la coordination des sorties motrices. Le caractère fluctuant de la marche humaine (autocorrélations à long-terme, LRA) relève tant de perturbations externes (e.g., environnement) et/ou internes (e.g., pathologie) que des réponses neuromécaniques à celles-ci. Bien que l'origine de cette propriété soit largement débattue, l’analyse des LRA fournirait d’importantes informations sur le contrôle de la marche et pourrait constituer un marqueur de dysfonctionnement. L'influence des facteurs externes et internes sur la locomotion humaine a été étudiée, permettant d’approfondir l’étude de possibles origines neuromécaniques des LRA et de leur utilité clinique potentielle. La récente considération des LRA donne lieu à une nouvelle façon de penser la variabilité, l'adaptabilité, la santé et la rééducation motrice. (MOTR - Sciences de la motricité) -- UCL, 2017