Gait rhythm analysis as a new continuous scale for cerebellar ataxia: Power law and lognormal components represent the ataxic gait quantity

Abstract

We estimated the severity of cerebellar ataxia by analyzing gait rhythm. We measured the step times in patients with pure cerebellar ataxia and healthy controls and then analyzed the distribution of the ratios of adjacent times. Gait rhythm displayed the best adaptation when expressed as the sum of the power law and lognormal distributions in both groups, and the groups could be distinguished by the exponent of the power law distribution, reflecting the fractal property of gait rhythm. Gait rhythm might reflect different features of impairment in patients with cerebellar ataxia, making it a useful continuous scale for cerebellar ataxia.

Keywords: Ataxia; Cerebellar Ataxia; Gait; Gait analysis; Spinocerebellar degenerations.