Details
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 1441-1454 |
| Number of pages | 14 |
| Journal | Experimental brain research |
| Volume | 238 |
| Issue number | 6 |
| Early online date | 8 May 2020 |
| Publication status | Published - Jun 2020 |
Abstract
Motor flexibility, the ability to employ multiple motor strategies to meet task demands, may facilitate ambulation in complex environments that constrain movements; loss of motor flexibility may impair mobility. The purpose of this study was to determine the effects of obesity (a specific model of mobility impairment) and advanced age on motor flexibility during a task that constrained foot placement while walking. Twenty-one community-dwelling obese (OB) and 25 normal weight (NW) older adults (46 total older adults—OA) and 10 younger adults (YA) walked normally on a treadmill (baseline) then walked while stepping on lighted cues projected onto the treadmill at locations corresponding to average foot placement during normal walking (cued). The uncontrolled manifold (UCM) analysis was used to partition total variance in a set of seven lower-limb segment angles into components that did (“bad” variance) and did not (“good” variance) affect step-to-step variance in the trajectory of the swing foot. Motor flexibility was operationalized as an increase (baseline to cued) in total variance with an increase in good variance that exceeded the change in bad variance. There was no significant group × walking task interaction for total and good variance for OB vs NW, but there was a strong and significant interaction effect for OA vs YA (p < 0.01; Cohen’s d > 1.0). Whereas YA reduced both good and bad variance, OA increased good variance beyond the change in bad variance. In OA, these changes were associated with several functional measures of mobility. Cued walking may place greater demands on OA requiring greater reliance on motor flexibility, although otherwise healthy older obese adults may be able to compensate for functional and cognitive declines associated with obesity by increasing motor flexibility under such tasks. The extent to which motor flexibility is employed during novel or constrained tasks may be a biomarker of healthy aging and a target for (re)habilitation.
Keywords
- Aging, Challenging gait task, Coordination, Motor flexibility, Obesity, Uncontrolled manifold analysis
ASJC Scopus subject areas
Sustainable Development Goals
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In: Experimental brain research, Vol. 238, No. 6, 06.2020, p. 1441-1454.
Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › Research › peer review
}
TY - JOUR
T1 - Older but not younger adults rely on multijoint coordination to stabilize the swinging limb when performing a novel cued walking task
AU - Rosenblatt, Noah J.
AU - Eckardt, Nils
AU - Kuhman, Daniel
AU - Hurt, Christopher P.
N1 - Funding information: Research reported in this publication was supported by the National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases under Award Number 1R03AR066326-01A1 and the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney under Award Number 2T35DK07439. The content in this publication is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the National Institutes of Health. Acknowledgements
PY - 2020/6
Y1 - 2020/6
N2 - Motor flexibility, the ability to employ multiple motor strategies to meet task demands, may facilitate ambulation in complex environments that constrain movements; loss of motor flexibility may impair mobility. The purpose of this study was to determine the effects of obesity (a specific model of mobility impairment) and advanced age on motor flexibility during a task that constrained foot placement while walking. Twenty-one community-dwelling obese (OB) and 25 normal weight (NW) older adults (46 total older adults—OA) and 10 younger adults (YA) walked normally on a treadmill (baseline) then walked while stepping on lighted cues projected onto the treadmill at locations corresponding to average foot placement during normal walking (cued). The uncontrolled manifold (UCM) analysis was used to partition total variance in a set of seven lower-limb segment angles into components that did (“bad” variance) and did not (“good” variance) affect step-to-step variance in the trajectory of the swing foot. Motor flexibility was operationalized as an increase (baseline to cued) in total variance with an increase in good variance that exceeded the change in bad variance. There was no significant group × walking task interaction for total and good variance for OB vs NW, but there was a strong and significant interaction effect for OA vs YA (p < 0.01; Cohen’s d > 1.0). Whereas YA reduced both good and bad variance, OA increased good variance beyond the change in bad variance. In OA, these changes were associated with several functional measures of mobility. Cued walking may place greater demands on OA requiring greater reliance on motor flexibility, although otherwise healthy older obese adults may be able to compensate for functional and cognitive declines associated with obesity by increasing motor flexibility under such tasks. The extent to which motor flexibility is employed during novel or constrained tasks may be a biomarker of healthy aging and a target for (re)habilitation.
AB - Motor flexibility, the ability to employ multiple motor strategies to meet task demands, may facilitate ambulation in complex environments that constrain movements; loss of motor flexibility may impair mobility. The purpose of this study was to determine the effects of obesity (a specific model of mobility impairment) and advanced age on motor flexibility during a task that constrained foot placement while walking. Twenty-one community-dwelling obese (OB) and 25 normal weight (NW) older adults (46 total older adults—OA) and 10 younger adults (YA) walked normally on a treadmill (baseline) then walked while stepping on lighted cues projected onto the treadmill at locations corresponding to average foot placement during normal walking (cued). The uncontrolled manifold (UCM) analysis was used to partition total variance in a set of seven lower-limb segment angles into components that did (“bad” variance) and did not (“good” variance) affect step-to-step variance in the trajectory of the swing foot. Motor flexibility was operationalized as an increase (baseline to cued) in total variance with an increase in good variance that exceeded the change in bad variance. There was no significant group × walking task interaction for total and good variance for OB vs NW, but there was a strong and significant interaction effect for OA vs YA (p < 0.01; Cohen’s d > 1.0). Whereas YA reduced both good and bad variance, OA increased good variance beyond the change in bad variance. In OA, these changes were associated with several functional measures of mobility. Cued walking may place greater demands on OA requiring greater reliance on motor flexibility, although otherwise healthy older obese adults may be able to compensate for functional and cognitive declines associated with obesity by increasing motor flexibility under such tasks. The extent to which motor flexibility is employed during novel or constrained tasks may be a biomarker of healthy aging and a target for (re)habilitation.
KW - Aging
KW - Challenging gait task
KW - Coordination
KW - Motor flexibility
KW - Obesity
KW - Uncontrolled manifold analysis
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85084519272&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1007/s00221-020-05822-x
DO - 10.1007/s00221-020-05822-x
M3 - Article
C2 - 32385736
AN - SCOPUS:85084519272
VL - 238
SP - 1441
EP - 1454
JO - Experimental brain research
JF - Experimental brain research
SN - 0014-4819
IS - 6
ER -