Do you think walking is automatic?

You accompany bodies. You correct gestures. You guide postures. But do you know what is happening up there, in the brain, with every step?

Because it’s not just a movement.

It’s a complex neurobiological orchestration that you think you know… but that you do not master.

The upright man: a neurological uniqueness

Takakusaki (2023) is clear: for humans, bipedal walking is the most demanding mode of locomotion in terms of cortical control.

Why?

Because being upright is a struggle against gravity. And every step is a posture risk-taking.

➡️ The motor cortex, the premotor, the prefrontal, the posterior parietal — all activate, even during so-called “automatic” walking.

The three pillars of human walking

It’s not the muscles that walk. It’s the nerve pathways that orchestrate the movement.

• 🧠 Corticoreticulospinal pathway — To anticipate, create proactive postural adjustments.
• 🌀 Vestibulospinal pathway — To anchor the body in the vertical axis and manage imbalances.
• 🎯 Cerebelloreticular pathway — To synchronize, smooth the rhythm, correct in real-time.

You can no longer correct a gait without understanding which circuit is not functioning.

Pathologies: a mirror of the postural system

Every pathology becomes readable… as soon as we look at walking with the right eyes:

• 🧊 Parkinson’s = freeze of gait ➝ Damage to the mesencephalic locomotor region (MLR) and disconnection of reticulospinal pathways.
• 🧠 Alzheimer’s = loss of adjustments ➝ Frontal + parietal hypoactivation.
• ⚡ Traumatic brain injury = loss of fluidity ➝ Premotor and corticospinal disorganization.
• 📉 Aging = axial collapse ➝ Loss of posturo-tonic control from the brainstem.

The MLR (mesencephalic locomotor region) plays a central role in starting and maintaining walking. If it is poorly activated or disconnected from the cortex, the system “freezes”.

Be honest with yourself:

• Do you know how to observe walking like a scanner of neurological status?
• Do you know how to hear the body’s language when anticipatory adjustments disappear?
• Do you know how to act on the descending pathways to rebuild a deep and lasting balance?

Are you a physical trainer? A physiotherapist? Do you really want to excel?

Then it’s time to stop correcting gestures. And to start reprogramming brains.

Because a foot that moves is:

• a cognitive decision,
• a postural adjustment,
• a reticulospinal coordination,
• a cerebellar correction,
• a vestibular anchoring…

…and none of these steps are muscular.

📚 Main reference

Takakusaki, K. (2023). Neural mechanisms underlying upright bipedal gait: Role of cortico-brainstem-spinal pathways involved in posture-gait control. Aging and Disease, 14(6), 1775–1795. Read the article

And to go further:

• Grillner & El Manira (2020), Physiological Reviews
• Fisher et al. (2021), Journal of Neuroscience
• Jacobs et al. (2009), Neuroscience
• Isa (2017), Trends in Neurosciences
• Yogev-Seligmann et al. (2008), Movement Disorders
• Jordan et al. (2008), Brain Research Reviews
• Klarner & Zehr (2018), Journal of Neurophysiology
• Woollacott & Shumway-Cook (2002), Gait & Posture