In praise of walking: The new science of how we walk and why it's good for us.

1. 25/10/2019
1
In Praise of
Walking:
The New Science of
how we Walk and
why it’s Good for us
Shane O'Mara
Professor of Experimental Brain Research
Institute of Neuroscience, Trinity College,
Dublin – the University of Dublin
Ireland
“Human walking is a risky business. Without split-second
timing man would fall flat on his face; in fact with each
step he takes, he teeters on the edge of catastrophe”
(so said British anthropologist John Napier)
2
3
It seems natural to
think that walking
first evolved on
land
But that’s not
correct, as recent
genetic studies show
Lots of bottom dwellers ‘walk’ on the ocean floor
Rosy-lipped Batfish:
walk on the ocean floor using
their pectoral fins
Sea pigs:
https://www.mnn.com/earth-matters/animals/blogs/sea-
pigs-facts
Compare the gene
complex in the
skate and mouse
Does pelvic fin walking in
Leucoraja rely on genetic
programs and circuit
components similar to
those of tetrapods?
5
Cell 2018 172, 667-682.e15 DOI:
(10.1016/j.cell.2018.01.013)
© 2018 Elsevier Inc. 6
Genetic studies therefore show that the
programme for walking first evolved in
the sea - at least 420 mya

2. 25/10/2019
2
Land-shambling Tetrapods
Getting up on your own two
feet
10
Abstract
A century of research on the development of walking has examined
periodic gait over a straight, uniform path. The current study provides
the first corpus of natural infant locomotion derived from
spontaneous activity during free play.
Locomotor experience was immense: Twelve- to 19-month-olds
averaged 2,368 steps and 17 falls per hour.
Immense amounts of time-distributed, variable practice constitute
the natural practice regimen for learning to walk. 11
Rough Walking

3. 25/10/2019
3
13 14
“Because Science!”
15
A Balm for Body and Brain
17 18

4. 25/10/2019
4
Creative Walking
Walking – what happens in the mind in motion?
21
Sir William Rowan Hamilton, mathematician at Trinity
College Dublin:
‘quaternions’ extend the mathematical theory of
complex numbers to 3d space
Mathematics are strange and alien:
non-commutative
Ordinary arithmetic, 3+4 = 4+3.
Quaternions: not true.
Quaternions used in physics, computer gaming and
graphics
(and electric toothbrushes!)
Hamilton discovered the solution on his regular long
walks from Dunsink Observatory to Trinity College – a
walk of c. 11 km
Hamilton:
‘And here there dawned on me the notion that we
must admit, in some sense, a fourth dimension of
space for the purpose of calculating with triples ...
An electric circuit seemed to close, and a spark
flashed forth.’
Will walking me more creative?
24

5. 25/10/2019
5
Older = less creative?
25
Not all walking ideas are good ones…
How much do I walk?
28
Smartphone data from over 68 million days of activity by 717,527
individuals reveal variability in physical activity across the world
T Althoff et al. Nature 1–4 (2017) doi:10.1038/nature23018
Which sense is most important
for navigating the world?

6. 25/10/2019
6
Nonvisual Navigation by Blind and Sighted:
Assessment of Path Integration Ability
“Blindfolded sighted, adventitiously blind, and congenitally blind
subjects performed a set of navigation tasks.”
“The slight performance differences between groups varying in visual
experience were neither large nor consistent across tasks.”
“Results provide little indication that spatial competence strongly
depends on prior visual experience.”
https://informationisbeautiful.net/b
eautifulnews/41-everyone-
everywhere-is-living-longer
Walking the City: Design Features
UK: 3,145 adults aged sixty five+
Tested for impairments in walking speed to investigate if simple tasks like
crossing streets at signal-controlled junctions might be difficult or impossible
as a result of ageing
84% of males and 94% of females tested had a walking impairment
Road crossings are usually set for people who can walk at least 1.2 metres
per second
Vast majority of the older adults tested walked at below this speed
Walking the City: Design Features
Dementia prevention, intervention, and care
Prof Gill Livingston, MD, Andrew Sommerlad, MSc, Vasiliki Orgeta, PhD, Sergi G Costafreda, PhD,
Jonathan Huntley, PhD, Prof David Ames, MD, Prof Clive Ballard, MD, Prof Sube Banerjee, MD, Prof
Alistair Burns, MD, Prof Jiska Cohen-Mansfield, PhD, Claudia Cooper, PhD, Prof Nick Fox, MD,
Laura N Gitlin, PhD, Prof Robert Howard, MD, Prof Helen C Kales, MD, Prof Eric B Larson, MD, Prof
Karen Ritchie, PhD, Prof Kenneth Rockwood, MD, Elizabeth L Sampson, MD, Quincy Samus, PhD,
Prof Lon S Schneider, MD, Prof Geir Selbæk, PhD, Prof Linda Teri, PhD, Naaheed Mukadam, MSc
The Lancet
DOI: 10.1016/S0140-6736(17)31363-6
https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(17)31363-6/fulltext
Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd Terms and Conditions
Figure 5
The Lancet DOI: (10.1016/S0140-6736(17)31363-6)
Policy Implications for
‘dementia-proofing’
society are far-reaching
Ensuring exercise is at the
core of the
recommendations
Potential brain
mechanisms for
preventive strategies in
dementia

7. 25/10/2019
7
Erickson et al (2011): randomised control trial in 120 older people -
exercise intervention reversed declines in hippocampal volumes (by c. 1-
2 years – c. 2%) using structural MRI, concomitant with improvements in
memory function and increases in circulating BDNF.
What problem does having a brain
solve?
Why do we have a brain?
38
39
Image: Arjan Gittenberger
Larval Tunicate, Phylum Chordata
40
By Jon Houseman - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=25858232
41
https://goodheartextremescie
nce.files.wordpress.com/2010
/01/sea-squirt-life-
cycle.jpg?w=768&h=602
After attaching
itself to a rock,
the Sea Squirt
absorbs its own
‘proto-brain’ as
a meal
Suppose you’re a little bit sea squirty, and you prefer
doing this…?
42

8. 25/10/2019
8
Outcomes of 3d of dry immersion
Muscle Volume
Muscle Strength
Muscle Viscoelasticity
‘Three days of muscle disuse in healthy adult subjects is sufficient to
significantly decrease muscle mass, tone and force, and to induce
changes in function relating to a weakness in aerobic metabolism and
muscle fibre denervation.’
Being Homer Simpson is bad for you
45
Most of our Walking will
be URBAN – in towns and
cities
Our streets used to be terrible
for walkers

9. 25/10/2019
9
John Gay’s 1716 poem warned of the dangers posed by the
emptying of chamber-pots when walking underneath
London windows, where
‘dropping vaults distil unwholesome dews
Ere the tiles rattle with the smoking shower
And spouts on heedless men their torrents pour’
Our streets are quite often still
terrible for walkers
The Font junction is notable in that it does not have pedestrian crossings on all arms, and the crossings are staged in order to
regulate pedestrians for the benefit of motorists. On Friday 6th September, shortly after 11am, it took FOURTEEN MINUTES to
cross. https://twitter.com/cosaingalway/status/1172130856288378884
Concern pedestrian crossing at
Spanish Arch causing daily backlog
at Lough Atalia Road
Pedestrians are too often
ignored in favour of motorists

10. 25/10/2019
10
And yet: favourite places in Galway are places
pedestrians congregate and amble about
1. Eyre Square
2. Galway Christmas Market
3. St. Nicholas' Church
4. Galway Cathedral
5. The Corrib Princess
6. Galway City Museum
7. The Aran Islands
8. Clarinbridge
9. The Burren
10. The Cliffs of Moher
https://www.planetware.com/tourist-attractions-/galway-irl-ga-gal.htm
56
EASE our towns and cities
should be:
easy (to walk)
accessible (to all)
safe (for everyone)
and enjoyable (for all)
http://finditsicily.com/dynimage/articledetail/3758/passeggiata.jpg
In Praise of
Walking:
The New Science of
how we Walk and
why it’s Good for us
Shane O'Mara
Professor of Experimental Brain Research
Institute of Neuroscience, Trinity College,
Dublin – the University of Dublin
Ireland