4 Things Your Walk Says About You

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Yes, that woman who breezed past you on the sidewalk this morning was probably in a hurry, and the teenager hunched in front of you, moving at a snail's pace was definitely looking at his phone. But what if we told you that the way people walk can telegraph everything from their risk for certain cognitive conditions to where they are in their menstrual cycle? Read on to find out what your gait says about you.

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You're a worrywart.
High anxiety levels can alter the way you walk, according to a recent study published in the journal Cognition. Researchers from the University of Kent blindfolded study participants and asked them to walk in a straight line toward a previously seen target. The participants had also completed a survey to determine whether they had more nervous or calm tendencies. Researchers found that the people who were more nervous veered to the left more often then those who were calmer, and believe that activity in the brain's right hemisphere, which is associated with increased anxiety, is responsible for the leftward shift.

You're at risk for dementia.
Simply examining a person's walking speed could help diagnose early stages of dementia, according to a recent study published in the journal Neurology. Researchers from the Albert Einstein School of Medicine identified a condition called motoric cognitive risk syndrome (MCR), which is characterized by cognitive complaints like decreased memory paired with slow walking speed. The study examined 26,802 adults over the age of 60, and found that 10% of them met the criteria for MCR. Then researchers followed a more condensed mixture of normal and MCR-positive adults over the course of 12 years. The participants who were diagnosed with MCR were twice as likely to develop dementia as those who had been deemed healthy. (Determine your dementia risk with this simple quiz.)

You can have an orgasm.
Researchers in Belgium found that the way a woman's body moves when she walks can signal if she's had (or can have) a vaginal orgasm. The study, published in the Journal of Sexual Medicine, recorded the sexual history of a sample of healthy women (basically, whether they had experienced a vaginal orgasm or not), then had trained sexologists examine the women's gaits. Surprisingly, the sexperts were able to guess the woman's vaginal orgasm history correctly 81.25% of the time. Researchers believe women who have had or are able to achieve a vaginal orgasm have a greater pelvic range of motion and greater stride length, suggesting more freedom of movement and, in turn, sensuality.

You're ovulating.
Your body might give you a little extra swagger when that egg is ready to be fertilized. A study published in the journal Personality and Individual Differences suggests that men are more attracted to a woman's movements (specifically dancing and walking) when she's at her most fertile. German researchers recruited 48 women and recorded whether they were in a fertile or non-fertile phase. Then, researchers recorded the women dancing and walking and played those recordings back to male participants. The men rated the movements of the fertile women as more attractive than those in a non-fertile phase. Researchers believe these findings suggest females give off fertility cues through body movement.