Human EEG Beta Band Power is Related to Tibialis Anterior Muscle Activation Reductions During Walking with an Ankle Exoskeleton

To achieve efficient and effortless movement with exoskeletons, it is essential to optimize human-exoskeleton fluency. Current methods for measuring fluency include energetic cost, muscle activation, and spatiotemporal gait parameters, but cortical brain dynamics have not been well studied Understanding individual cortical responses could improve the application of personalized exoskeleton assistance through human-in-the-loop (HIL) optimization approaches. Our research aimed to enhance the understanding of individual responses and identify a potential objective function based on electrocortical activity. We found that electrocortical responses show more individual variability than muscle activations, emphasizing the need for personalized cortical optimization to maximize exoskeleton assistance. We also found a significant negative relationship between changes in TA muscle activation and EEG beta power in the motor area. These findings suggest that EEG beta power changes could be a possible objective function for HIL applications.