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

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Author
Laudani, Luca
Rum, Lorenzo
Valle, Maria Stella
Macaluso, Andrea
Vannozzi, Giuseppe
Casabona, Antonino
Date
2020-10-26Acceptance date
2020-10-12
Date Deposited
2020-10-16
Type
Article
Publisher
Springer
ISSN
1439-6319
1439-6327 (online)
Metadata
Show full item recordAbstract
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;
Description
Article published in European Journal of Applied Physiology available open access at https://doi.org/10.1007/s00421-020-04531-1
Sponsorship
Cardiff Metropolitan University (Grant ID: Cardiff Metropolian (Internal))
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