Influence of aging on the relation between head control and hip joint kinematics during crossover stepping.

Falls in older individuals are a serious health issue in super-aged societies. The stepping reaction is an important postural strategy for preventing falls. This study aimed to reveal the characteristics of lateral stepping in response to mechanical disturbance by means of an analysis of the hip joint kinematics in the stepping leg and head stability during crossover steps.

Age-Related Changes in Inter-Joint Interactions for Global and Local Kinematics While Standing.

Inter-joint interactions are involved in human standing. These interactions work not only for global kinematics that control the center of mass (COM) of the entire body, but also for local kinematics that control joint angular movements. Age-related changes in these interactions are thought to cause unstable standing postures in older people.

Cortical oscillations and interareal synchronization as a preparatory activity for postural response.

Neural mechanisms of human standing are expected to be elucidated for preventing fallings. Postural response evoked by sudden external perturbation originates from various areas in the central nervous system. Recent studies have revealed that the corticospinal pathway is one of the key nodes for an appropriate postural response.

Discrimination of standing postures between young and elderly people based on center of pressure.

Posturography is utilized to assess the influence of aging on postural control. Although this measurement is advantageous for finding group-level differences between the young and the elderly, it is unclear whether it has the potential to differentiate elderly individuals who are affected by various impacts of aging. The purpose of this study was to determine the utility of posturography to discriminate elderly individuals from young adults.

Age-related changes in standing ability on a foam surface based on the center-of-mass acceleration of each body segment.

[Purpose] The purpose of this study was to elucidate the age-related changes in the stability of the quiet standing posture based on the acceleration of the center of mass of each body segment under deteriorated somatosensory conditions. [Participants and Methods] The participants in this study were 18 healthy elderly persons and 11 healthy young adults. A foam surface was placed on the force plate for load-bearing onto the somatosensory system.

Presetting of the Corticospinal Excitability in the Tibialis Anterior Muscle in Relation to Prediction of the Magnitude and Direction of Postural Perturbations.

The prediction of upcoming perturbation modulates postural responses in the ankle muscles. The effects of this prediction on postural responses vary according to predictable factors. When the amplitude of perturbation can be predicted, the long-latency response is set at an appropriate size for the required response, whereas when the direction of perturbation can be predicted, there is no effect.

Corticospinal Excitability Is Modulated as a Function of Postural Perturbation Predictability.

Recent studies demonstrated that the corticospinal pathway is one of the key nodes for the feedback control of human standing and that the excitability is flexibly changed according to the current state of posture. However, it has been unclear whether this pathway is also involved in a predictive control of human standing. Here, we investigated whether the corticospinal excitability of the soleus (SOL) and tibialis anterior (TA) muscles during standing would be modulated anticipatorily when perturbation was impending.