Fig 5. Average COM sway and step width response to perturbations.

The destabilizing perturbations increased COM sway (A) and step width (C), with larger changes observed at higher perturbation forces. Conversely, the stabilizing perturbations reduced COM sway (B), with smaller reductions observed in step width (D). Handrail hold had a general effect of reducing step width across the entire trial, but a significant effect was only observed for the stabilizing forces.