title: Locomotor stability and adaptation during perturbed walking across the adult female lifespan.
abstract: The aim of this work was to examine locomotor stability and adaptation across the adult female lifespan during perturbed walking on the treadmill. 11 young, 11 middle and 14 older-aged female adults (mean and SD: 25.5(2.1), 50.6(6.4) and 69.0(4.7) years old respectively) walked on a treadmill. We applied a sustained perturbation to the swing phase of the right leg for 18 consecutive gait cycles, followed by a step with the resistance unexpectedly removed, via an ankle strap connected to a break-and-release system. The margin of stability (MoS) at foot touchdown was calculated as the difference between the anterior boundary of the base of support (BoS) and extrapolated center of mass. Older participants showed lower MoS adaptation magnitude in the early adaptation phase (steps 1-3) compared to the young and middle-aged groups. However, in the late adaptation phase (steps 16-18) there were no significant differences in adaptation magnitude between the three age groups. After removing the resistance, all three age groups showed similar aftereffects (i.e. increased BoS). The current results suggest that in old age, the ability to recalibrate locomotion to control stability is preserved, but the rate of adaptive improvement in locomotor stability is diminished.
authors.affiliation: NUTRIM School of Nutrition and Translational Research in Metabolism, Maastricht University Medical Centre+, Department of Human Movement Science, Maastricht, The Netherlands; Institute of Movement and Sport Gerontology, German Sport University Cologne, Germany.
authors.forename: Christopher
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: McCrum
authors.affiliation: Institute of Movement and Sport Gerontology, German Sport University Cologne, Germany; Institute of Biomechanics and Orthopaedics, German Sport University Cologne, Germany.
authors.forename: Gaspar
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Epro
authors.affiliation: NUTRIM School of Nutrition and Translational Research in Metabolism, Maastricht University Medical Centre+, Department of Human Movement Science, Maastricht, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Kenneth
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Meijer
authors.affiliation: Institute of Movement and Sport Gerontology, German Sport University Cologne, Germany.
authors.forename: Wiebren
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Zijlstra
authors.affiliation: Institute of Biomechanics and Orthopaedics, German Sport University Cologne, Germany.
authors.forename: Gert-Peter
authors.initials: GP
authors.lastname: Brüggemann
authors.affiliation: Institute of Movement and Sport Gerontology, German Sport University Cologne, Germany. Electronic address: karamanidis@dshs-koeln.de.
authors.forename: Kiros
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Karamanidis
mesh_terms: D000222:Adaptation, Physiological; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000375:Aging / Q000502:physiology*; D001696:Biomechanical Phenomena; D005080:Exercise Test; D005260:Female; D005528:Foot / Q000502:physiology; D005684:Gait / Q000502:physiology; D006801:Humans; D007866:Leg / Q000502:physiology; D008875:Middle Aged; D004856:Postural Balance; D016138:Walking / Q000502:physiology*; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Aftereffects; Age; Dynamic gait stability; Elderly; Falls; Motor learning