Brain activity during walking in older adults: Implications for compensatory versus dysfunctional accounts

NEUROBIOLOGY OF AGING

卷:105

Review

Fettrow, Tyler¹  Hupfeld, Kathleen¹  Tays, Grant¹  Clark, David J.^2,3  Reuter-Lorenz, Patricia A.⁵  Seidler, Rachael D.^1,4 

[1] Univ Florida, Dept Appl Physiol & Kinesiol, FLG 1864 Stadium Rd, Gainesville, FL 32608 USA

[2] Univ Florida, Dept Aging & Geriatr Res, Gainesville, FL 32608 USA

[3] Malcom Randall VA Med Ctr, Brain Rehabil Res Ctr, Gainesville, FL USA

[4] Univ Florida, Norman Fixel Inst Neurol Dis, Gainesville, FL 32608 USA

[5] Univ Michigan, Dept Psychol, Ann Arbor, MI USA

关键词: Brain activity;    Walking;    Aging;    Compensation;    Dysfunction;    Neural control;   

DOI  :  10.1016/j.neurobiolaging.2021.05.015

来源: Elsevier

【 摘 要 】

A prominent trend in the functional brain imaging literature is that older adults exhibit increased brain activity compared to young adults to perform a given task. This phenomenon has been extensively stud-ied for cognitive tasks, with the field converging on interpretations described in two alternative accounts. One account interprets over-activation in older adults as reflecting neural dysfunction (increased brain activity - indicates poorer performance), whereas another interprets it as neural compensation (in-creased brain activity -supports better performance). Here we review studies that have recorded brain activity and walking measurements in older adults, and we categorize their findings as reflecting either neural dysfunction or neural compensation. Based on this synthesis, we recommend including multiple task difficulty levels in future work to help differentiate if and when compensation fails as the locomo-tion task becomes more difficult. Using multiple task difficulty levels with neuroimaging will lead to a more advanced understanding of how age-related changes in locomotor brain activity fit with existing accounts of brain aging and support the development of targeted neural rehabilitation techniques. (c) 2021 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

【 授权许可】

Free