BIOMECHANICAL ANALYSIS OF THE DEVELOPMENT OF HUMAN BIPEDAL WALKING BYA NEURO-MUSCULO-SKELETAL MODEL

A new computer simulation method, using a neuro-musculo-skeletal model , is used to clarify the process of acquisition of erect bipedal walki ng during human ontogeny Walking was autonomously generated as a dynam ic interaction called 'mutual entrainment' between the neural oscillat ion and the pendular movement of differently proportioned bodies. Walk ing patterns of humans with 8 different sets of alternative body propo rtions, varying from those of 8-month-old children to those of 22 year s old adults, were simulated. The development of bipedal walking is ch aracterized as the change from a forced oscillation controlled by the nervous system to the natural oscillation of pendular motion, determin ed by body proportions. Body proportions are the fundamental factor in the development of bipedal walking.