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Someone mentioned backwards walking when forwards results in a freeze and= I couldn't resist offering this as a possible explanation. = Normal forward walking requires displacing one's body weight past the fal= l point and then the advancing extremity "catches" the body before it falls= =2E If for whatever reason there is a perceived or real inability to advance the leg, then fear of falling is a very strong inhibitory force against normal walking (i.e. projecting forward). This has nothing to do with th= e underlying cause of freezing or akinesia but rather is how the body responds to these causes as it attempts to accommodate this pathology. I= f one can walk without the need to displace one's center of gravity beyond the fall point then this inhibitory fear is circumvented and gait can occur. This in fact is what I feel happens with backwards walking. = Anatomically we are put together so that one need not project backwards beyond the fall point in order to take a step when walking backwards and = so we are not inhibited from doing so. In forward walking this fear results= in short stride gait because if the gait is short enough one's center of gravity remains under foot and there is no fear of falling. With short strides there is no time or space to pick up the feet and so one sees shuffling gait. So one can conclude that both shuffling gait and short stride gait are not primary pathology in PD but rather are compensatory mechanisms. Walking up stairs is very often also possible because again one walks without the need to anteriorly displace one's center of gravity= =2E Any comments on the above speculations are welcomed. regards, Tom