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Aging and limb alter the neuromuscular control of goal-directed movements

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Abstract

The purpose of this study was to determine whether the neuromuscular control of goal-directed movements is different for young and older adults with the upper and lower limbs. Twenty young (25.1 ± 3.9 years) and twenty older adults (71.5 ± 4.8 years) attempted to accurately match the displacement of their limb to a spatiotemporal target during ankle dorsiflexion or elbow flexion movements. We quantified neuromuscular control by examining the movement endpoint accuracy and variability, and the antagonistic muscle activity using surface electromyography (EMG). Our results indicate that older adults exhibit impaired endpoint accuracy with both limbs due to greater time variability. In addition, older adults exhibit greater EMG burst and lower EMG burst variability as well as lower coactivation of the antagonistic muscles. The impaired accuracy of older adults during upper limb movements was related to lower coactivation of the antagonistic muscles, whereas their impaired accuracy during lower limb movements was related to the amplified EMG bursts. The upper limb exhibited greater movement control than the lower limb, and different neuromuscular parameters were related to the accuracy and consistency for each limb. Greater endpoint error during upper limb movements was related to lower coactivation of the antagonistic muscles, whereas greater endpoint error during lower limb movements was related to the amplified EMG bursts. These findings indicate that the age-associated impairments in movement control are associated with altered activation of the involved antagonistic muscles. In addition, independent of age, the neuromuscular control of goal-directed movements is different for the upper and lower limbs.

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Acknowledgments

The authors would like to acknowledge the help of Jessica A Reid for data collection and the help of Jonathan D. Leake for computer programming. This study was supported by R01 AG031769 to Evangelos A. Christou.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Applied Physiology and Kinesiology, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, 32611, USA

    MinHyuk Kwon, Yen-Ting Chen, Emily J. Fox & Evangelos A. Christou

  2. Department of Physical Therapy, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, 32611, USA

    Emily J. Fox & Evangelos A. Christou

  3. Brooks Rehabilitation Clinical Research Center, Jacksonville, FL, 32216, USA

    Emily J. Fox

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  1. MinHyuk Kwon
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  2. Yen-Ting Chen
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  3. Emily J. Fox
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  4. Evangelos A. Christou
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Correspondence to Evangelos A. Christou.

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Kwon, M., Chen, YT., Fox, E.J. et al. Aging and limb alter the neuromuscular control of goal-directed movements. Exp Brain Res 232, 1759–1771 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00221-014-3868-2

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