Undisturbed upright stance control in the elderly: Part 1. Age-related changes in undisturbed upright stance control.
The authors investigated age-related changes in postural control in 33 healthy young adults (18-31 years), 29 seniors (62-75 years), and 22 elderly people (75-96 years). A force platform recorded the results. The horizontal motions of the center of gravity (CGh) and their difference in the plane of support CP - CGv were deduced from the complex center of pressure (CP) trajectories. With fractional Brownian modeling, one can establish that the aging process seems to induce a transition phase in which seniors take more time to initiate the corrective process in the mediolateral (ML) axis than do younger people. The elderly develop a new strategy characterized by the mobilization of higher neuromuscular energy to maintain equilibrium. In the ML axis, the larger displacements could be caused mainly by a hip strategy that could facilitate step initiation. In the anteroposterior (AP) axis, seniors and elderly individuals maintain a relative ability to stabilize their CG into the base of support compared with younger people.
Berger
L
L
Laboratoire de Modélisation des Activités Sportives, Université de Savoie, Domaine Scientifique de Savoie-Technolac, F 73 376 Le Bourget du Lac Cedex, France. laetitia.berger@univ-savoie.fr
Chuzel
M
M
Buisson
G
G
Rougier
P
P
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000375:Aging / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D006112:Gravitation; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D008962:Models, Theoretical; D009949:Orientation; D004856:Postural Balance; D011601:Psychophysics; D011930:Reaction Time