Quantification of the spatio-temporal characteristics of walking trajectories of patients suffering from cerebellar disease

Cerebellar dysfunction can lead to disturbances of gait by causing disequilibrium, and by altering leg and trunk kinematics and interlimb coordination. Such disturbances are characterized by an instable walking path and a high variability of gait. Quantifying the type of impairments based on classical gait features show a significant change only in balance-related parameters like reduced step length, increased step width or reduced peak joint angles. No significant changes can be found for parameters related to impairment of inter-joint coordination or kinetics. For a quantitative description of kinetic impairme…