Brain Activity during Ankle Proprioceptive Stimulation Predicts Balance Performance in Young and Older Adults
Brain Activity during Ankle Proprioceptive Stimulation Predicts Balance Performance in Young and Older Adults
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DOI：
10.1523/jneurosci.4159-11.2011
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发表时间：
2011-11-09
影响因子：
5.3
通讯作者：
Swinnen, Stephan P.
中科院分区：
文献类型：
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作者：
Goble, Daniel J.;Coxon, James P.;Swinnen, Stephan P.
来自足部/踝部的本体感受信息提供了关于用于平衡控制的身体摇摆的重要信息，特别是在视觉信息退化或不存在的情况下。已知随着年龄的增长，由于福尔斯摔倒而造成的灾难性损伤会增加，因此了解平衡控制的本体感受过程的神经基础对老年人尤为重要。在本研究中，我们将神经活动与关键足部本体感受器（即，肌梭）在整个生命周期中具有平衡能力。20名年轻人和20名老年人接受了本体感受映射;在fMRI环境中将脚腱振动与附近骨骼的振动进行比较，以确定大脑中对肌梭刺激反应活跃的区域。几个身体摇摆指标也计算了相同的参与者在闭眼平衡任务。基于回归分析，识别出多个体素簇，其显示肌梭刺激诱导的神经活动与前后方向上的最大压力偏移中心之间的显著关系。在这种情况下，激活的增加与顶叶、额叶和岛叶皮质区以及基底神经节内结构的更好平衡性能相关。这些相关区域与年龄和足部刺激无关，主要位于大脑右侧区域，被认为与监测刺激驱动的注意力转移有关。这些发现支持了这样一种观点，即除了基本的外周反射机制之外，来自足部的本体感受信号的中枢处理对于平衡控制至关重要。
Proprioceptive information from the foot/ankle provides important information regarding body sway for balance control, especially in situations where visual information is degraded or absent. Given known increases in catastrophic injury due to falls with older age, understanding the neural basis of proprioceptive processing for balance control is particularly important for older adults. In the present study, we linked neural activity in response to stimulation of key foot proprioceptors (i.e., muscle spindles) with balance ability across the lifespan. Twenty young and 20 older human adults underwent proprioceptive mapping; foot tendon vibration was compared with vibration of a nearby bone in an fMRI environment to determine regions of the brain that were active in response to muscle spindle stimulation. Several body sway metrics were also calculated for the same participants on an eyes-closed balance task. Based on regression analyses, multiple clusters of voxels were identified showing a significant relationship between muscle spindle stimulation-induced neural activity and maximum center of pressure excursion in the anterior-posterior direction. In this case, increased activation was associated with greater balance performance in parietal, frontal, and insular cortical areas, as well as structures within the basal ganglia. These correlated regions were age-and foot-stimulation side-independent and largely localized to right-sided areas of the brain thought to be involved in monitoring stimulus-driven shifts of attention. These findings support the notion that, beyond fundamental peripheral reflex mechanisms, central processing of proprioceptive signals from the foot is critical for balance control.