title: Effect of age and gender on the surface electromyogram during various levels of isometric contraction.
abstract: This study reports the effects of age and gender on the surface electromyogram while performing isometric contraction. Experiments were conducted with two age groups--Young (Age: 20-29) and Old (Age: 60-69) where they performed sustained isometric contractions at various force levels (50%, 75%, 100% of maximum voluntary contraction). Traditional features such as root mean square (RMS) and median frequency (MDF) were computed from the recorded sEMG. The result indicates that the MDF of sEMG was not significantly affected by age, but was impacted by gender in both age groups. Also there was a significant change in the RMS of sEMG with age and gender at all levels of contraction. The results also indicate a large inter-subject variation. This study will provide an understanding of the underlying physiological effects of muscle contraction and muscle fatigue in different cohorts.
authors.affiliation: Bio-signal Lab, School of Electrical and Computer Engineering, RMIT University, Australia.
authors.forename: Sridhar
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Arjunan
authors.forename: Dinesh
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Kumar
authors.forename: Chandan
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Kalra
authors.forename: John
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Burne
authors.forename: Teodiano
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Bastos
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D004576:Electromyography / Q000379:methods*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007537:Isometric Contraction; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012737:Sex Factors; D055815:Young Adult