BackgroundWe investigated adaptation changes in dynamic postural control and contingent negative variation (CNV) in 13 young and 12 elderly adults. Subjects repeatedly underwent backward postural disturbance by a forward floor translation (S2) 2 s after an auditory warning signal (S1). Initial and second sets were conducted, each set with 20 trials. Posterior peak position of the center of pressure in the anteroposterior direction (CoPy) after S2 was identified. Electroencephalograms from Cz were averaged for each set, and the CNV negative peak was identified.ResultsCompared with the first trial, the posterior peak position of CoPy changed significantly forward from the 12th trial in the young and from the 19th trial in the elderly during the initial set. The mean of the posterior peak position was more forward in second set than in the initial set for both groups and was significantly backward in the elderly compared to the young for both sets. These findings indicate that subjects in both groups adapted better to the postural disturbance in the second set than in the initial set, and the adaptation was later in the elderly. Late CNV in the young started to increase negatively from the middle of the S1-S2 period and peaked just before S2. Peak CNV amplitude was larger in the second set than in the initial set. In contrast, late CNV in the elderly exhibited no negative increase as in the young and peaked in the middle of the S1-S2 period, which was followed by gradual decreasing toward S2. No adaptive changes were found in late CNV for the elderly.ConclusionsIt is conceivable that reduced activation of the frontal lobe may be one of the factors contributing to the decrease in postural adaptability in the elderly. The elderly may use various brain regions for the adaptation of dynamic postural control compared with the young.

These results confirm that gastrocnemius starts to deteriorate earlier and atrophies at a faster pace than soleus. A significant sex difference was found only in the onset age of gastrocnemius deterioration, which was earlier in men than in women.

No abstract

We investigated saccade performance and prefrontal hemodynamics in basketball players with different skill levels. Subjects were 27 undergraduate basketball players and 13 non-athlete undergraduates (control group: CON). The players were divided into two groups: those who had played in the National Athletic Meet during high school or played regularly (n=13, elite group: ELI) and those who were bench warmers (n=14, skilled group: SKI). Horizontal eye movement and oxy-, deoxy-, and total-hemoglobin (Hb) concentration in the prefrontal cortex during pro- and anti-saccade were measured using electro-oculography and near-infrared spectroscopy, respectively. Only error rate in anti-saccade was less in ELI (4.8+/-4.0%) than SKI (13.7+/-12.6%) and CON (13.9+/-8.3%) (p<0.05). In ELI alone, oxy- (-0.15+/-0.18 mmol*mm) and total-Hb (-0.12+/-0.15 mmol*mm) during anti-saccade decreased significantly compared with that during rest (p<0.05), while those in CON significantly increased (oxy-Hb: 0.17+/-0.15 mmol*mm, total-Hb: 0.14+/-0.14 mmol*mm) (p<0.05). These results suggest that inhibition of eye movement to a visual target changes from voluntary to automatic through the motor learning of basketball.

No abstract