• English
    • Welsh
  • English 
    • English
    • Welsh
  • Login
Search DSpace:
  • Home
  • Research at Cardiff Met
  • Library Services
  • Contact Us
View item 
  • DSpace home
  • Cardiff School of Sport and Health Sciences
  • Import
  • View item
  • DSpace home
  • Cardiff School of Sport and Health Sciences
  • Import
  • View item
JavaScript is disabled for your browser. Some features of this site may not work without it.

Age differences in anticipatory and executory mechanisms of gait initiation following unexpected balance perturbations

Thumbnail
View/open
Publisher's PDF (906.8Kb)
Author
Laudani, Luca
Rum, Lorenzo
Valle, Maria Stella
Macaluso, Andrea
Vannozzi, Giuseppe
Casabona, Antonino
Date
2020-10-26
Acceptance date
2020-10-12
Date Deposited
2020-10-16
Type
Article
Publisher
Springer
ISSN
1439-6319
1439-6327 (online)
Metadata
Show full item record
Abstract
Purpose. An age-related decline in anticipatory postural mechanisms has been reported during gait initiation; however, it is unclear whether such decline may jeopardize whole-body stability following unexpected balance perturbations. This study aimed to compare young and older individuals’ ability to generate postural responses and preserve stability in response to external waist perturbations delivered within gait initiation. Methods. Ten young and ten older participants performed 10 gait initiation trials followed by 48 unperturbed and 12 perturbed trials in a random order. A stereophotogrammetric system and three force platforms were used to quantify mechanical parameters from the preparatory phase (e.g., timing and amplitude of postural adjustments) and from the stepping phase (e.g., step characteristics and dynamic stability). Activation patterns of lower leg muscles were determined by surface electromyography. Results. Older participants responded to perturbation with lower increase in both magnitude (p<0.001; η 2 p=0.62) and duration of (p=0.001; η 2 p=0.39) preparatory parameters and soleus muscle activity (p<0.001; η 2 p=0.55), causing shorter (p<0.001; η 2 p=0.59) and lower (p<0.001; η 2 p=0.43) stepping, compared to young participants. Interestingly, young participants showed greater correlations between preparatory phase parameters and dynamic stability of the first step than older participants (average r of -0.40 and -0.06, respectively). Conclusion. The results suggest that young participants took more time than older to adjust the anticipatory biomechanical response to perturbation attempting to preserve balance during stepping. In contrast, older adults were unable to modify their anticipatory adjustments in response to perturbation and mainly relied on compensatory mechanisms attempting to preserve stability via a more cautious stepping strategy.
Journal/conference proceeding
European Journal of Applied Physiology;
URI
http://hdl.handle.net/10369/11170
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1007/s00421-020-04531-1
Description
Article published in European Journal of Applied Physiology available open access at https://doi.org/10.1007/s00421-020-04531-1
Rights
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
Sponsorship
Cardiff Metropolitan University (Grant ID: Cardiff Metropolian (Internal))
Collections
  • Import [796]

Related items

Showing items related by title, author, subject and abstract.

  • Thumbnail

    Neuromechanical response of the upper body to unexpected perturbations during gait initiation in young and older adults 

    Rum, Lorenzo; Vannozzi, Giuseppe; Macaluso, Andrea; Laudani, Luca (Springer, 2020-05-23)
    Background: Control of upper body motion deteriorates with ageing leading to impaired ability to preserve balance during gait, but little is known on the contribution of the upper body to preserve balance in response to ...
  • Thumbnail

    Age-related changes in upper body contribution to braking forward locomotion in women 

    Rum, Lorenzo; Laudani, Luca; Vannozzi, Giuseppe; Macaluso, Andrea (Elsevier, 2018-11-13)
    Introduction Gait termination is a transitory task that requires the lower body to produce braking forces and inhibit forward propulsion. However, it is still unknown whether the upper body plays an active role in braking ...
  • Thumbnail

    Upper body accelerations during planned gait termination in young and older women 

    Rum, Lorenzo; Laudani, Luca; Macaluso, Andrea; Vannozzi, Giuseppe (Elsevier, 2017-10-25)
    Transitory tasks, such as gait termination, involve interactions between neural and biomechanical factors that challenge postural stability and head stabilization patterns in older adults. The aim of the study was to compare ...

Browse

DSpace at Cardiff MetCommunities & CollectionsBy issue dateAuthorsTitlesSubjectsThis collectionBy issue dateAuthorsTitlesSubjects

My Account

Login

Statistics

Most Popular ItemsStatistics by CountryMost Popular Authors

DSpace software copyright © 2002-2015  DuraSpace
Contact us | Send feedback | Administrator