Compromised Brain Activity With Age During a Game-Like Dynamic Balance Task: Single- vs. Dual-Task Performance

Rond, Veerle de; Orcioli‐Silva, Diego; Dijkstra, Bauke W.; Xivry, Jean-Jacques Orban de; Pantall, Annette; Nieuwboer, Alice

doi:10.3389/fnagi.2021.657308

Cited by 14 publications

(10 citation statements)

References 68 publications

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“…This would nicely explain why younger adults demonstrated higher activity in PoCG than older adults in the present study. In contrast to our findings, another fNIRS study by de Rond et al (2021) has recently reported higher PoCG activation in the older compared to the younger in a game-like weight-shifting task, irrespective of task load. These differing results might, for example, be caused by the different nature of the task investigated (thus requiring different postural control strategies) or different equipment used.…”

Section: Discussioncontrasting

confidence: 99%

Brain Activation During Active Balancing and Its Behavioral Relevance in Younger and Older Adults: A Functional Near-Infrared Spectroscopy (fNIRS) Study

Lehmann

Kuhn

Keller

et al. 2022

Front. Aging Neurosci.

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Age-related deterioration of balance control is widely regarded as an important phenomenon influencing quality of life and longevity, such that a more comprehensive understanding of the neural mechanisms underlying this process is warranted. Specifically, previous studies have reported that older adults typically show higher neural activity during balancing as compared to younger counterparts, but the implications of this finding on balance performance remain largely unclear. Using functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS), differences in the cortical control of balance between healthy younger (n = 27) and older (n = 35) adults were explored. More specifically, the association between cortical functional activity and balance performance across and within age groups was investigated. To this end, we measured hemodynamic responses (i.e., changes in oxygenated and deoxygenated hemoglobin) while participants balanced on an unstable device. As criterion variables for brain-behavior-correlations, we also assessed postural sway while standing on a free-swinging platform and while balancing on wobble boards with different levels of difficulty. We found that older compared to younger participants had higher activity in prefrontal and lower activity in postcentral regions. Subsequent robust regression analyses revealed that lower prefrontal brain activity was related to improved balance performance across age groups, indicating that higher activity of the prefrontal cortex during balancing reflects neural inefficiency. We also present evidence supporting that age serves as a moderator in the relationship between brain activity and balance, i.e., cortical hemodynamics generally appears to be a more important predictor of balance performance in the older than in the younger. Strikingly, we found that age differences in balance performance are mediated by balancing-induced activation of the superior frontal gyrus, thus suggesting that differential activation of this region reflects a mechanism involved in the aging process of the neural control of balance. Our study suggests that differences in functional brain activity between age groups are not a mere by-product of aging, but instead of direct behavioral relevance for balance performance. Potential implications of these findings in terms of early detection of fall-prone individuals and intervention strategies targeting balance and healthy aging are discussed.

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Section: Discussioncontrasting

confidence: 99%

Brain Activation During Active Balancing and Its Behavioral Relevance in Younger and Older Adults: A Functional Near-Infrared Spectroscopy (fNIRS) Study

Lehmann

Kuhn

Keller

et al. 2022

Front. Aging Neurosci.

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“…As another reason, the maintenance or repetition of some actions or tasks has attracted the greater observation of the change or activation of specific cerebral cortices, especially for the dual task, which is a popular method for investigating the increased risk of falls in the elderly. Studies have reported a similar conclusion that the activation of PFC in older people is enhanced more than that in young people when performing balance tasks [ 41 , 42 , 43 ]. This phenomenon is often explained by the theory of “compensation”, which is defined as the neural recruitment that enhances task performance in healthy aging [ 44 ].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 75%

Age-Related Differences in Stepping Reactions to a Balance Perturbation: A Functional Near-Infrared Spectroscopy and Surface Electromyography Study

Zhuang¹,

Zhu

Sui

et al. 2022

Brain Sciences

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We sought to investigate age-related differences in stepping reactions to a sudden balance perturbation, focusing on muscle activity and cortical activation. A total of 18 older healthy adults (older group, OG) and 16 young healthy adults (young group, YG) were recruited into this study. A cable-pull instrument was used to induce a forward perturbation at the waist level among participants, who were required to take the right step to maintain their postural balance. The seven right lower-limb muscle activities during periods of compensatory postural adjustments (CPAs) were recorded by surface electromyography. At the same time, the signals of channels located in the prefrontal, temporal and parietal lobes were recorded by functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) during the whole process. Integral electromyograms of the right peroneus muscle, gluteus medius, and lateral gastrocnemius muscles showed greater activity for the OG in the CPA periods. Two channels belonging to the right pre-frontal (PFC) and pre-motor cortex (PMC) revealed lower activation in the OG compared with the YG. These findings can help us to better understand the differences at the peripheral and central levels and may provide some suggestions for future neuromodulation techniques and other clinical treatments.

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“…Finally, the increase in steering variability and decrease in task performance could also stem from the decrease in dual-tasking abilities with aging [19,38,39]. The shoulder check task requires participants to simultaneously bike straight and look behind.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Turning the head while biking makes older people lose cycling direction and balance

Afschrift

Matthijs

Ryck

et al. 2022

Preprint

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Background: Bike safety in older subjects is a major concern in multiple countries given the strong increase in the number of cyclists that are admitted to the hospital due to single-sided bicycle accidents in older populations. The increase in single-sided accident rate in older subjects suggests that older adults have more difficulty controlling balance while bicycling in traffic, which has been related to various age-related changes in the sensorimotor system. Yet, the impact of these age-related sensorimotor deficits on the ability of older people to remain stable on their bike during traffic situations such as turning their upper body to check on potential road users, remains unknown. Methods: We instructed a group of 40 young (22.86, SD:1.53 years) and 41 older participants (62.73 SD:1.57 years) to bike in a straight line while performing a shoulder check movement in order to identify the color of an object presented behind them. We recorded the task-errors (lost balance, errors in identifying the color, cycling outside the lane) and computed the steering angle and rotation of the frame, pelvis and torso from IMU recordings. Results: We observed that older adults made task-errors (one third of the older participants failed at the task by making errors such as cone-identification errors, loss of balance and cycling outside the lane). In the successful trials, we observed an increase in steering angle and rotation of the pelvis with respect to the frame in the older subjects compared to the young subjects. Significance: Older cyclists lose balance while turning their head, which might contribute to the increased number of single sided bike accidents in older subjects. The use of simple devices, such as using a mirror, should be encouraged in older subjects to replace the shoulder check maneuver.

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Compromised Brain Activity With Age During a Game-Like Dynamic Balance Task: Single- vs. Dual-Task Performance

Cited by 14 publications

References 68 publications

Brain Activation During Active Balancing and Its Behavioral Relevance in Younger and Older Adults: A Functional Near-Infrared Spectroscopy (fNIRS) Study

Brain Activation During Active Balancing and Its Behavioral Relevance in Younger and Older Adults: A Functional Near-Infrared Spectroscopy (fNIRS) Study

Age-Related Differences in Stepping Reactions to a Balance Perturbation: A Functional Near-Infrared Spectroscopy and Surface Electromyography Study

Turning the head while biking makes older people lose cycling direction and balance

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