摘要: We investigated the effect of handrail height on the timing and speed of reach-to-grasp reactions during slope descent, in fourteen younger and thirteen older adults. Participants walked along an 8o slope mounted to a robotic platform. Platform perturbations evoked reach-to-grasp reactions. Handrail height did not significantly affect handrail contact time (ie, time from perturbation onset to handrail contact) or movement time (ie, time from EMG latency to handrail contact). Participants appeared to compensate for the increased hand-handrail distance with higher rails via increased peak upward hand speed, and decreased vertical handrail overshoot.