TY - JOUR
T1 - Neuromuscular Age-Related Adjustment of Gait When Moving Upwards and Downwards
AU - Dewolf, Arthur H.
AU - Sylos-Labini, Francesca
AU - Cappellini, Germana
AU - Zhvansky, Dmitry
AU - Willems, Patrick A.
AU - Ivanenko, Yury
AU - Lacquaniti, Francesco
N1 - Funding Information:
This work was supported by the Italian Ministry of Health (Ricerca corrente, IRCCS Fondazione Santa Lucia), the Italian Space Agency (grants I/006/06/0 and ASI-MARS-PRE DC-VUM - 2017-006), the H2020-779963 EUROBENCH FSTP-1 grant (sub-project PEPATO), and the Italian University Ministry (PRIN grant 2017CBF8NJ_005).
Publisher Copyright:
Copyright © 2021 Dewolf, Sylos-Labini, Cappellini, Zhvansky, Willems, Ivanenko and Lacquaniti.
PY - 2021/10/21
Y1 - 2021/10/21
N2 - Locomotor movements are accommodated to various surface conditions by means of specific locomotor adjustments. This study examined underlying age-related differences in neuromuscular control during level walking and on a positive or negative slope, and during stepping upstairs and downstairs. Ten elderly and eight young adults walked on a treadmill at two different speeds and at three different inclinations (0°, +6°, and −6°). They were also asked to ascend and descend stairs at self-selected speeds. Full body kinematics and surface electromyography of 12 lower-limb muscles were recorded. We compared the intersegmental coordination, muscle activity, and corresponding modifications of spinal motoneuronal output in young and older adults. Despite great similarity between the neuromuscular control of young and older adults, our findings highlight subtle age-related differences in all conditions, potentially reflecting systematic age-related adjustments of the neuromuscular control of locomotion across various support surfaces. The main distinctive feature of walking in older adults is a significantly wider and earlier activation of muscles innervated by the sacral segments. These changes in neuromuscular control are reflected in a reduction or lack of propulsion observed at the end of stance in older adults at different slopes, with the result of a delay in the timing of redirection of the centre-of-mass velocity and of an unanticipated step-to-step transition strategy.
AB - Locomotor movements are accommodated to various surface conditions by means of specific locomotor adjustments. This study examined underlying age-related differences in neuromuscular control during level walking and on a positive or negative slope, and during stepping upstairs and downstairs. Ten elderly and eight young adults walked on a treadmill at two different speeds and at three different inclinations (0°, +6°, and −6°). They were also asked to ascend and descend stairs at self-selected speeds. Full body kinematics and surface electromyography of 12 lower-limb muscles were recorded. We compared the intersegmental coordination, muscle activity, and corresponding modifications of spinal motoneuronal output in young and older adults. Despite great similarity between the neuromuscular control of young and older adults, our findings highlight subtle age-related differences in all conditions, potentially reflecting systematic age-related adjustments of the neuromuscular control of locomotion across various support surfaces. The main distinctive feature of walking in older adults is a significantly wider and earlier activation of muscles innervated by the sacral segments. These changes in neuromuscular control are reflected in a reduction or lack of propulsion observed at the end of stance in older adults at different slopes, with the result of a delay in the timing of redirection of the centre-of-mass velocity and of an unanticipated step-to-step transition strategy.
KW - aging
KW - coordination
KW - muscle activity analysis
KW - neuromechanics of gait
KW - spinal motoneuronal output
KW - stair and slope
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U2 - 10.3389/fnhum.2021.749366
DO - 10.3389/fnhum.2021.749366
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85118614730
VL - 15
JO - Frontiers in Human Neuroscience
JF - Frontiers in Human Neuroscience
SN - 1662-5161
M1 - 749366
ER -