Systematic review and meta-analysis of gait mechanics in young and older adults

Boyer, Katherine A.; Johnson, Russell T.; Banks, Jacob J.; Jewell, Carl; Hafer, Jocelyn F.

doi:10.1016/j.exger.2017.05.005

Cited by 125 publications

(122 citation statements)

References 51 publications

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“…Older and PD participants spent shorter time in swing and single support than young individuals indicating age-related changes in motor performance. This is consistent with previous reports of kinematic and kinetic changes of gait in older people (Brach et al 2008, Boyer et al 2017. Previous studies have also documented differences in gait between people with PD and healthy age-matched controls (Blin et al 1990, Hausdorff 2005, Hausdorff 2009, Moon et al 2016, Peterson & Horak 2016, which we did not observe in the current study.…”

Section: Changes In Corticomuscular Control With Aging and Parkinson'supporting

confidence: 94%

“…Older adults are known to walk slower, take shorter strides, spend more time in stance and double support, use their hip extensors more, and their ankle plantar flexors and knee extensors less than young individuals (Himann et al 1988, Elble et al 1991, Winter & Eng 1995, Maki 1997, DeVita & Hortobagyi 2000, Brach et al 2008, Lee et al 2017. Movement kinematics, including joint moments and powers at the ankle, and ground reaction forces, also change with ageing (Boyer et al 2017). PD gait is characterised by slowness, increased variability and impaired postural control (Blin et al 1990, Hausdorff 2005, Hausdorff 2009, Moon et al 2016, Peterson & Horak 2016.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Corticomuscular control of walking in older people and people with Parkinson’s disease

Roeder

Boonstra

Kerr

2019

Preprint

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Changes in human gait that result from ageing or neurodegenerative diseases are multifactorial. Here we assess the effects of age and Parkinson’s disease (PD) on corticospinal control in electrophysiological activity recorded during treadmill and overground walking. Electroencephalography (EEG) from 10 electrodes and electromyography (EMG) from two leg muscles were acquired from 22 healthy young, 24 healthy older and 20 adults with PD. Event-related power, corticomuscular coherence (CMC) and inter-trial coherence were assessed for EEG from bilateral sensorimotor cortices and EMG from tibialis anterior muscles during the double support phase of the gait cycle. CMC and EMG power in the low beta band (13-21 Hz) was significantly decreased in older and PD participants compared to young people, but there was no difference between older and PD groups. Older and PD participants spent shorter time in the swing phase than young individuals. These findings indicate age-related changes in the temporal coordination of gait. The decrease in beta CMC suggests reduced cortical input to spinal motor neurons in older people during the double support phase. We also observed multiple changes in electrophysiological measures at high beta and low gamma frequencies during treadmill compared to overground walking, indicating task-dependent differences in corticospinal locomotor control.

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Section: Changes In Corticomuscular Control With Aging and Parkinson'supporting

confidence: 94%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Corticomuscular control of walking in older people and people with Parkinson’s disease

Roeder

Boonstra

Kerr

2019

Preprint

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“…and ), such as walking speed (obtained by assessing the distance in meters covered per minute); cadence (computed by measuring the number of steps per unit of time, e.g., per minute); step width (i.e., the distance from the midpoint to midpoint of both heels) and length (i.e., the distance from the point of foot contact to the point of contralateral foot contact); swing (i.e., the time period during gait initiation when the one foot is not in contact with the ground) and stance time (i.e., the time period when both feet are on the ground); double support phase (%); stride length (i.e., distance covered during one gait cycle measured in cm); and standard deviation of stride length (i.e., the distance covered during one gait cycle; i.e., in cm) and swing time (i.e., the time period when one foot is not in contact with the ground) . The gait patterns of older adults have been characterized by decreases in gait speed, minimum toe clearance, ground reaction force values, and ankle dorsiflexion, but also by increases in body sway, step width, stride duration, double support duration, minimum foot clearance variability, as well as in stride and step length, which consequently decreases the proportion of time spent in the single‐support swing phase of the gait cycle that normally helps to maintain medio‐lateral stability and improve balance, whereas cadence seems to remain largely unaffected (Table ) . Additionally, gait variability in older adults has been implicated as a predictor of increased risk of falling; yet, from a biomechanical point of view, this variability also reflects the ability to adapt limb movement during the walking act so as to increase stability.…”

Section: The Act Of Walking In Normal Agingmentioning

confidence: 99%

“Walking” through the sensory, cognitive, and temporal degradations of healthy aging

Paraskevoudi

Balcı

Vatakis

2018

Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences

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As we age, there is a wide range of changes in motor, sensory, cognitive, and temporal processing due to alterations in the functioning of the central nervous and musculoskeletal systems. Specifically, aging is associated with degradations in gait; altered processing of the individual sensory systems; modifications in executive control, memory, and attention; and changes in temporal processing. These age-related alterations are often inter-related and have been suggested to result from shared neural substrates. Additionally, the overlap between these brain areas and those controlling walking raises the possibility of facilitating performance in several tasks by introducing protocols that can efficiently target all four domains. Attempts to counteract these negative effects of normal aging have been focusing on research to prevent falls and/or enhance cognitive processes, while ignoring the potential multisensory benefits accompanying old age. Research shows that the aging brain tends to increasingly rely on multisensory integration to compensate for degradations in individual sensory systems and for altered neural functioning. This review covers the age-related changes in the above-mentioned domains and the potential to exploit the benefits associated with multisensory integration in aging so as to improve one's mobility and enhance sensory, cognitive, and temporal processing.

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“…the Achilles tendon. Interestingly, both Achilles tendon stiffness (Delabastita et al, 2020) and the walking pattern (Boyer et al, 2017) are found to differ in young and older adults. Although their influence to the energy cost of walking is related (Delabastita et al, 2020), most studies only evaluated either the influence of Achilles tendon stiffness or the influence of specific walking patterns on the energy cost of walking.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Achilles tendon stiffness minimizes the energy cost in simulations of walking in older but not in young adults

Delabastita

Groote

Vanwanseele

2020

Preprint

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Both Achilles tendon stiffness and walking patterns influence the energy cost of walking, but their relative contributions remain unclear. These independent contributions can only be investigated using simulations. We created models for 16 young (24±2 years) and 15 older (75±4 years) subjects, with individualized (using optimal parameter estimations) and generic triceps surae muscle-tendon parameters. We varied Achilles tendon stiffness and calculated the energy cost of walking. Both in young and older adults, Achilles tendon stiffness independently contributed to the energy cost of walking. However, overall, a 25% increase in Achilles tendon stiffness increased the triceps surae and whole-body energy cost of walking with approximately 7% and 1.5%, respectively. Therefore, the influence of Achilles tendon stiffness is rather limited. Walking patterns also independently contributed to the energy cost of walking because the plantarflexor (including, but not limited to the triceps surae) energy cost of walking was lower in older than in young adults. Hence, training interventions should probably rather target specific walking patterns than Achilles tendon stiffness to decrease the energy cost of walking. However, based on the results of previous experimental studies, we expected that the calculated hip extensor and whole-body energy cost of walking would be higher in older than in young adults. This was not confirmed in our results. Future research might therefore assess the contribution of the walking pattern to the energy cost of walking by individualizing maximal isometric muscle force and by using three-dimensional models of muscle contraction.Summary statementAchilles tendon stiffness and walking patterns independently contribute to the energy cost in simulations of walking in young and older adults. The influence of Achilles tendon stiffness is rather small.

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Systematic review and meta-analysis of gait mechanics in young and older adults

Cited by 125 publications

References 51 publications

Corticomuscular control of walking in older people and people with Parkinson’s disease

Corticomuscular control of walking in older people and people with Parkinson’s disease

“Walking” through the sensory, cognitive, and temporal degradations of healthy aging

Achilles tendon stiffness minimizes the energy cost in simulations of walking in older but not in young adults

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