Higher physical activity levels attenuated the relationship between positive emotions and gait rhythm, while higher protein intake strengthened the association between negative emotions and gait rhythm, indicating that modifiable lifestyle factors moderate emotion-locomotion coupling in healthy young adults.
Key Findings
Results
Higher baseline physical activity levels attenuated the relationship between positive emotions and gait rhythm.
This finding was identified through moderation analyses accounting for visit number and survived false discovery rate correction.
Both total MET-minutes and WHO physical activity category measures of physical activity showed this moderating effect.
The effect suggests that more active individuals maintain more stable gait timing regardless of emotional state.
86.7% of participants met aerobic activity guidelines and 73.43% met resistance training guidelines based on IPAQ self-report.
Results
Higher protein intake strengthened the association between negative emotions and gait rhythm.
This interaction survived false discovery rate correction and was one of three significant interactions identified.
Nutritional intake was assessed via 24-hour dietary recall at baseline.
The finding involved the gait rhythm domain specifically, not other gait domains.
Results
Three significant interactions were identified after false discovery rate correction, all involving the gait rhythm domain.
The three significant interactions involved total MET-minutes, WHO physical activity category, and protein intake.
All significant interactions involved the gait rhythm domain rather than other gait domains.
Three additional interactions, including a lifestyle composite score, showed trend-level effects with raw p < .012 but did not survive correction.
The trend-level findings were described as 'warranting replication.'
Methods
The study used a longitudinal repeated-measures design with up to five gait and mood assessments per participant over the course of a semester.
Of 16 participants enrolled, 15 completed baseline surveys and all completed at least two gait assessments.
Baseline assessments included the IPAQ for physical activity, the PSQI for sleep quality over the past month, and a 24-hour dietary recall for nutritional intake.
Moderation analyses accounted for visit number as a covariate.
Sleep quality was noted to vary widely among participants.
Results
Sleep quality and the lifestyle composite score did not produce significant moderating effects after correction, though trend-level effects were observed.
The lifestyle composite score showed a trend-level interaction with a raw p < .012.
These trend-level findings did not survive false discovery rate correction.
The authors described these trend-level effects as warranting replication.
Sleep quality was assessed using the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI).
What This Means
This research suggests that lifestyle habits like physical activity and protein intake can influence how our emotions affect the way we walk. The study followed healthy young adults over a semester, measuring their walking patterns and mood up to five times, while also assessing their exercise habits, sleep, and diet at the start. Researchers found that people who were more physically active tended to have more consistent, stable walking rhythms regardless of whether they were in a good or bad mood — in other words, being active may buffer against emotional states disrupting normal movement patterns. Additionally, people who consumed more protein showed a stronger link between negative emotions and changes in their walking rhythm.
The findings point specifically to the 'gait rhythm' aspect of walking — the timing and regularity of steps — as being particularly sensitive to these lifestyle influences, rather than other aspects of gait such as speed or stride length. Three interactions were statistically robust after accounting for the possibility of false positives, while a few additional findings involving a combined lifestyle score showed promising but less conclusive trends that the authors say need replication in larger studies.
This research suggests that everyday behaviors like staying physically active may help stabilize the connection between how we feel and how we move. This could have implications for understanding how lifestyle choices relate to motor control and emotional regulation, and may eventually inform approaches to maintaining healthy movement patterns across varying emotional states. The small sample size (15-16 participants) means these findings should be considered preliminary.
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