CHS Associate Professor featured in the Wall Street Journal
- Dr. Victoria Moerchen studies if babies walk more effectively on a treadmill with a patterned belt
A study published in Infant Behavior and Development suggested a novel technique to help babies who are slow to begin walking because of disorders like spina bifida and Down syndrome. The study found that placing young babies on a small, motorized treadmill with a patterned belt encouraged them to take steps more effectively than when the belt was a single color. The patterned belt encourages stepping by imitating the visual experience of moving forward, the researchers said.
The study, conducted at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, tested two groups of 24 babies. Half of the babies were age 2 to 5 months and the others 7 to 10 months.
The treadmills used in the experiment had belts that were either black-and-white checked, solid white or solid black. The babies were held over the treadmill with their feet resting on the surface. They were tested in three, 30-second trials on each belt. Video cameras recorded their attention to the belt.
On average, the older babies took 130 steps over the nine trials and the younger babies took 60 steps. Both groups took significantly more steps on the checked belt than the solid belts and spent more time looking down at the checked belt than away from it. The older babies also took more complex steps on the checked belt, using alternating legs, for example, or moving both legs together like a hop.
Caveat: Infants who looked away from the treadmill may have detected its movement using peripheral vision, which wasn't measured in the study, researchers said. The examiner who held the infants on the treadmill was familiar with the hypothesis of the study.