Environmental navigation in a fatigued state: alterations in perceptual-motor obstacle crossing behavior following exercise

Individuals encounter obstacles while walking through their environment on a regular basis, correct navigation of which requires correct visual perception of the obstacle and an appropriate biomechanical crossing strategy. In a physically fatigued state, environmental navigation can potentially pose greater risks through altering individuals’ perceptual-motor abilities. In this study, we found that following exercise visual perception of a suddenly appearing obstacle is hindered, but subjects’ kinematic obstacle crossing strategy is not. These results help to further elucidate the role of physical fatigue on environmental navigation, and may have implications for reduction of injury in physically demanding occupations.