Walking is not easy

Each step is considered the "programming" process first: lift your foot, decide the destination, and if nothing moves on the ground, lower your foot. Scientists think that this process does not require visual involvement, but new research proves the opposite.

Accordingly, we need continuous visual images to support the process of finding the correct point for landing.

In the past, scientists thought that looking at the ground was only done in the "planning" stage for each step, not necessary to monitor the progress of that step. But Raymond Reynolds, at the Institute of Neurology, Queen Square, London and his colleagues, proved that vision is not only in the "programming" stage, but also in taking control of the footsteps.

The team learned how people set their feet down to their destination during the walk. In half of the experiment, they "locked" the vision of the participants as they lifted their feet off the ground. As a result, the experimenter dropped his foot off the target. But when vision is restored, it is correct to put the foot back on the ground.

The possible consequence of a shortfall, of course, is a fall. Scientists hope that by understanding what controls basic walking action, they can better know the deviation of people.

" It's important that when we know how healthy people control their footsteps, we can understand what went wrong in people with neurological disorders, causing them to fall ," Revnolds said.