LATERAL STABILITY DURING INDUCED STEPPING IN THE ELDERLY

描述：（改编自研究者摘要）本研究的长期目标 研究的目的是了解保护性运动神经元的运动控制过程， 加强老年人的人体平衡恢复。衰老似乎表现出 控制横向稳定性的具体问题。的能力受损 产生快速和受控的内收-外展肌肌肉力量和姿势 运动可能使许多老年人易于侧向不稳定和福尔斯。 这个项目的重点是步骤的方式产生，以保持平衡下 不同方向的扰动平衡。具体来说，它将比较 年轻人和积极健康的社区居住老年人 控制他们的身体动作，以响应不同的姿势方向， 干扰.作者提出，与年龄相关的额叶差异 平面保护性踏步模式将指示站立时的横向不稳定性， 这些差异将预示着跌倒的风险。这 横向不稳定性可能与生产能力降低有关 髋关节有效外展-内收肌力矩-时间反应 平面身体运动和步进。这可能反映在受损的神经肌肉 激活过程和/或肌肉收缩的内在变化 机制等识别保护性基础的关键电机控制过程 随着年龄的增长和未来福尔斯跌倒风险的增加， 我们对残疾发病机理的理解。

DESCRIPTION: (adapted from Investigator's abstract) The long-term goal of this study is to understand the motor control processes underlying protective stepping for human balance recovery in older persons. Aging appears to present specific problems in controlling lateral stability. Impaired ability to generate rapid and controlled adductor-abductor muscular forces and postural movements may predispose many older persons to lateral instability and falls. This project focuses on the ways steps are generated to maintain balance under different directions of perturbed balance. Specifically, it will compare the ways younger individuals and active healthy community dwelling older persons control their body movements in response to different directions of postural disturbances. The authors propose that age-associated differences in frontal plane protective stepping patterns will indicate lateral instability in stance, and that these differences will be predictive of the risk of falling. This lateral instability may be associated with a reduced capacity to produce effective hip joint abductor-adductor torque-time responses to control frontal plane body motion and stepping. This may be reflected in impaired neuromuscular activation processes and/or in intrinsic changes in muscle contraction mechanisms. Identifying key motor control processes underlying protective stepping behavior as a function of age and future risk of falls will improve our understanding of the pathogenesis of disablement.