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It further discusses how music-rhythm engagement may override natural sensory feedback, then reviews locomotion evidence across species and recent microelectrode recordings from tibial nerve afferents during unsupported 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\nVaughan G. Macefield   \nDepartment of Neuroscience, Monash University, Melbourne, VIC, Australia [Email: vaughan.macefield@monash.edu](Email: vaughan.macefield@monash.edu)  \nHandling Editors: Kim Barrett & Richard Carson  \nThe peer review history is available in the Supporting Information section of this article ([https://doi.org/10.1113/](https://doi.org/10.1113/)[ ](https://doi.org/10.1113/)[JP289071\\#support-information-section](JP289071#support-information-section)) .  \nI run three-to-four times a week, sometimes five: just short 5 km runs in the morning, nothing too strenuous, sometimes 10 km. And although I love listening to music, at work and at home, I run with only the ambient sounds around me. This appears  \nto be unusual, given the number of people I see running with earbuds firmly stuck in their ears. Although this is fine – yet potentially dangerous if you can’t hear vehicles approaching as you run across roads – what does strike me is the sound these runners make: slap, slap, slap go their feet with every step. Even clomp, clomp, clomp. I’m not only talking about amateur (if not keen) runners like myself but also seasoned runners (you can tell by their T-shirts: ‘Finished Whatever Marathon or Triathlon Event in 2022, 2023, 2024’). Why is this an issue? Well, for a start, if you can hear their feet, then the footfall is rather heavy: one should be able to run silently, such as my own stealth mode in which I can feel my feet gently contacting the ground and making little sound. Why is this important? Well, in my opinion, silent running means that your stepping cycle is more efficient – making contact with the ball of your feet and pushing off by plantarflexing the ankle. I don’t study the biomechanics or the sensorimotor control of locomotion, but it seems reasonable tome that a light footfall would be more efficient in terms of energy expenditure. So, is there anything in what we know about locomotion, and the roles of feedforward and feedback mechanisms in its neural control, that could support this idea? Running has developed in many quadrupeds, as well as in bipeds such as ourselves and flightless birds (the ostrich and emu), and the adopted running style  \nof certain lizards. The ostrich is the fasted bipedal land animal and can run twice as fast as humans, even when both are running for their lives (or for that trophy!) . Unlike humans the ostrich has only two long toes and the emu three; these are connected to long, compliant tendons that store elastic energy. The human foot is a more complicated structure, and although there certainly are biomechanical benefits to us running barefoot, given that it promotes making contact first with the ball of the foot and promotes use of the elastic energy stored in the structures ofthe arch – we are constrained by having very short toes. As such, we do not have the advantage of the forward propulsion from the long toes of the emu and ostrich. And although not as long as in the emu and ostrich our Achilles tendon does store elastic energy, making the propulsive plantarflexion generated by the triceps surae muscles more efficient. It is worth considering the possibility that, perhaps, the complicated composition of the human foot (with multiple bones and ligaments and four layers of intrinsic muscles) has necessitated a greater reliance on feedback mechanisms to make our running more efficient. Indeed, we have rich sources of proprioceptive feedback from the feet and the long dorsiflexor and plantarflexor muscles acting on the feet, and it is this feedback that we should be‘listening’ to – in the figurative sense – when we run. And although it is known that running cadence can match the beat of the music, if the runner does engage with the rhythm (Van Dyck et al., 2021), I argue that the normal sensory feedback from the feet and legs is being overridden when people run to the ","cbCainODGovM8iJX","https://ap.wps.com/l/cbCainODGovM8iJX","pdf",145690,"English","# Listen to your feet\n## Silent running and efficient stepping cycle\n## Neural control: feedforward, feedback, and proprioception\n## Species comparisons and implications for human running\n## Microelectrode recordings and sensory afferent findings","[{\"question\":\"Why does the author consider loud footfall a problem while running?\",\"answer\":\"The author argues that if runners can produce clearly audible foot sounds, their footfall is heavy and less efficient than running that is largely silent through gentler ground contact and effective ankle plantarflexion.\"},{\"question\":\"How does the author explain the role of neural mechanisms in running silently?\",\"answer\":\"The author suggests silent running depends on efficient stepping cycle mechanics driven by proprioceptive feedback from the feet and ankle muscles, whereas running to music may favor feedforward mechanisms that override natural sensory feedback.\"},{\"question\":\"What new experimental approach does the author’s laboratory describe?\",\"answer\":\"The laboratory developed microelectrode recordings from the posterior tibial nerve at the ankle to identify firing properties of muscle spindle endings and cutaneous mechanoreceptors in the sole during unsupported standing.\"}]","Listen to your feet | PDF"]