Motor Asymmetry Attenuation in Older Adults during Imagined Arm Movements.
Motor Asymmetry Attenuation in Older Adults during Imagined Arm Movements.
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DOI：
10.3389/fnagi.2014.00049
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发表时间：
2014
影响因子：
4.8
通讯作者：
Papaxanthis C
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Paizis C;Skoura X;Personnier P;Papaxanthis C
偏侧性是运动行为的一个重要特征。一些研究表明，右利手的年轻人的侧化（即，右臂相对于左臂优势）也在想象动作期间出现，即当动作在内部模拟而没有任何运动输出时。然而，这些信息是缺乏老年人，它可能是有价值的，以进一步了解在正常老化的心理状态的行动的演变。在这里，我们评估了年龄对心理活动中运动侧化的影响。24名年轻人（平均年龄：24.7 ± 4.4岁）和24名老年人（平均年龄：72.4 ± 3.6岁）的参与者在精神上模拟并实际执行指向运动，无论是他们的优势右臂还是非优势左臂在水平面上。我们记录并分析了实际和心理运动的时间，并寻找组间和臂间的差异。此外，还记录了手臂肌肉的肌电图活动，以量化心理活动期间肌肉激活的任何增强。我们的研究结果表明，两组人都在心理上模拟手臂运动，而没有激活高于基线水平的右臂或左臂肌肉。这一发现表明，年轻人，尤其是老年人能够在没有任何运动输出的情况下产生隐蔽行动。我们发现手动不对称（即，右臂的快速运动）在年轻成年人的实际和精神运动中都得到了保留。在老年人中，观察到实际而非心理运动的手动不对称（即，双臂的运动时间相等）。这些发现清楚地表明，在心理活动中，运动侧化与年龄有关。
Laterality is an important feature of motor behavior. Several studies have shown that lateralization in right-handed young adults (i.e., right versus left arm superiority) emerges also during imagined actions, that is when an action is internally simulated without any motor output. Such information, however, is lacking for elderly people and it could be valuable to further comprehend the evolution of mental states of action in normal aging. Here, we evaluated the influence of age on motor laterality during mental actions. Twenty-four young (mean age: 24.7 ± 4.4 years) and 24 elderly (mean age: 72.4 ± 3.6 years) participants mentally simulated and actually executed pointing movements with either their dominant-right or non-dominant-left arm in the horizontal plane. We recorded and analyzed the time of actual and mental movements and looked for differences between groups and arms. In addition, electromyographic activity from arm muscle was recorded to quantify any enhancement in muscle activation during mental actions. Our findings indicated that both groups mentally simulated arm movements without activating the muscles of the right or the left arm above the baseline level. This finding suggests that young and, notably, elderly adults are able to generate covert actions without any motor output. We found that manual asymmetries (i.e., faster movements with the right arm) were preserved in young adults for both actual and mental movements. In elderly adults, manual asymmetries were observed for actual but not for mental movements (i.e., equal movement times for both arms). These findings clearly indicate an age-related reduction of motor laterality during mental actions.