Corticospinal control of normal and visually-guided gait in healthy older and younger adults

TY - JOUR

T1 - Corticospinal control of normal and visually-guided gait in healthy older and younger adults

AU - Spedden, Meaghan Elizabeth

AU - Choi, Julia Tsok Lam

AU - Nielsen, Jens Bo

AU - Geertsen, Svend Sparre

N1 - CURIS 2019 NEXS 088

PY - 2019/6

Y1 - 2019/6

N2 - We investigated age-related differences in corticospinal control of muscle activity during normal and visually guided (VG) walking. Young (n = 15, 22.1 ± 1.7 years) and older (n = 15, 68.3 ± 2.7 years) participants performed normalwalking and VGwalking requiring precise foot placement based on visual cues. Coherence analysiswas used to quantify coupling between electroencephalography and electromyography from the anterior tibial muscle (corticomuscular) and between the 2 ends of the anterior tibial muscle (intramuscular) at 15-50 Hz during the swing phase of walking as markers of corticospinal activity. Our results indicated that corticomuscular and intramuscular coherencewas lower in older compared to young participants during both tasks. In addition, coherencewas generally greater during VG than during normal walking across age groups, although during late swing, older participants drove several of the observed task-related coherence increases. Performance on the VG task was lower in older compared to youngparticipants andwas correlated with task-related corticomuscular coherencemodulations within the older group. These results suggest age-related differences in the corticospinal control of walking, with possible implications for precision control of foot placement based on visual information.

AB - We investigated age-related differences in corticospinal control of muscle activity during normal and visually guided (VG) walking. Young (n = 15, 22.1 ± 1.7 years) and older (n = 15, 68.3 ± 2.7 years) participants performed normalwalking and VGwalking requiring precise foot placement based on visual cues. Coherence analysiswas used to quantify coupling between electroencephalography and electromyography from the anterior tibial muscle (corticomuscular) and between the 2 ends of the anterior tibial muscle (intramuscular) at 15-50 Hz during the swing phase of walking as markers of corticospinal activity. Our results indicated that corticomuscular and intramuscular coherencewas lower in older compared to young participants during both tasks. In addition, coherencewas generally greater during VG than during normal walking across age groups, although during late swing, older participants drove several of the observed task-related coherence increases. Performance on the VG task was lower in older compared to youngparticipants andwas correlated with task-related corticomuscular coherencemodulations within the older group. These results suggest age-related differences in the corticospinal control of walking, with possible implications for precision control of foot placement based on visual information.

KW - Faculty of Science

KW - Coherence

KW - Elderly

KW - Aging

KW - Walking

KW - Gait

KW - EEG

U2 - 10.1016/j.neurobiolaging.2019.02.005

DO - 10.1016/j.neurobiolaging.2019.02.005

M3 - Journal article

C2 - 30852367

SN - 0197-4580

VL - 78

SP - 29

EP - 41

JO - Neurobiology of Aging

JF - Neurobiology of Aging

ER -