Elsevier

Gait & Posture

Volume 65, Supplement 1, September 2018, Page 393
Gait & Posture

Short communication
P 098 - Preservation of motor flexibility in healthy aging: Old age and task constraints do not affect flexibility in joint coordination

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gaitpost.2018.06.070Get rights and content

Introduction

When humans perform voluntary movements such as reaching for a target or sit-to-stand, the abundant joint motions provide the neuromuscular system with a large range of movement possibilities [1,2]. Healthy adults make use of this rich movement repertoire to guarantee performance stability during daily life reaching and sit-to-stand movements under different task requirements [3]. Healthy aging impairs functions of the central and peripheral neuromuscular system and reaching and sit-to-stand performance [[4], [5], [6]]. We aimed to establish whether healthy aging also affects the old adults capacity to flexibly coordinate the abundant joint motions.

Section snippets

Research Question

Are healthy old as compared to young adults less able to flexibly coordinate the abundant joint motions during reaching, sit-to-stand and other movements?

Methods

In four experimental studies reaching and sit-to-stand movements were performed under different force, accuracy and balance constraints to establish whether more challenging task requirements affect the old and young adults capacity to stabilize task performance through flexibility in joint coordination. The uncontrolled manifold approach (UCM) was used to establish age differences in motor flexibility [3].

Results

The experimental studies revealed that old as compared to young adults employed significantly more flexibility in joint coordination when rising from low but not high chairs. During rapid reaching old and young adults similarly increased flexibility in joint coordination in response to higher force constraints. Manipulations of the balance and force constraint during sit-to-stand did not affect flexibility in joint coordination in the young or old adults.

Discussion

Considering previous studies and the experimental results there is not a universal decline of motor flexibility with aging as measured by the UCM analysis. The possibility exists that flexibility in joint coordination might serve in compensation for neuromuscular deficits when old adults operate at the limits of intrinsic force, balance and coordinative capacities. When task requirements are low adaptations in movement kinematics might be sufficient to guarantee safe and accurate sit-to-stand

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