Interactions Between Different Age-Related Factors Affecting Balance Control in Walking
Maintaining balance during walking is a continuous sensorimotor control problem. Throughout the movement, the central nervous system has to collect sensory data about the current state of the body in space, use this information to detect possible threats to balance and adapt the movement pattern to...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Frontiers Media S.A.
2020-07-01
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| Series: | Frontiers in Sports and Active Living |
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| Online Access: | https://www.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fspor.2020.00094/full |
| _version_ | 1818551925211136000 |
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| author | Hendrik Reimann Rachid Ramadan Tyler Fettrow Tyler Fettrow Jocelyn F. Hafer Hartmut Geyer John J. Jeka |
| author_facet | Hendrik Reimann Rachid Ramadan Tyler Fettrow Tyler Fettrow Jocelyn F. Hafer Hartmut Geyer John J. Jeka |
| author_sort | Hendrik Reimann |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Maintaining balance during walking is a continuous sensorimotor control problem. Throughout the movement, the central nervous system has to collect sensory data about the current state of the body in space, use this information to detect possible threats to balance and adapt the movement pattern to ensure stability. Failure of this sensorimotor loop can lead to dire consequences in the form of falls, injury and death. Such failures tend to become more prevalent as people get older. While research has established a number of factors associated with higher risk of falls, we know relatively little about age-related changes of the underlying sensorimotor control loop and how such changes are related to empirically established risk factors. This paper approaches the problem of age-related fall risk from a neural control perspective. We begin by summarizing recent empirical findings about the neural control laws mapping sensory input to motor output for balance control during walking. These findings were established in young, neurotypical study populations and establish a baseline of sensorimotor control of balance. We then review correlates for deteriorating balance control in older adults, of muscle weakness, slow walking, cognitive decline, and increased visual dependency. While empirical associations between these factors and fall risk have been established reasonably well, we know relatively little about the underlying causal relationships. Establishing such causal relationships is hard, because the different factors all co-vary with age and are difficult to isolate empirically. One option to analyze the role of an individual factor for balance control is to use computational models of walking comprising all levels of the sensorimotor control loop. We introduce one such model that generates walking movement patterns from a short list of spinal reflex modules with limited supraspinal modulation for balance. We show how this model can be used to simulate empirical studies, and how comparison between the model and empirical results can indicate gaps in our current understanding of balance control. We also show how different aspects of aging can be added to this model to study their effect on balance control in isolation. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-12T09:06:22Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-35825cd940594afaa6f045541a279d2f |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2624-9367 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-12T09:06:22Z |
| publishDate | 2020-07-01 |
| publisher | Frontiers Media S.A. |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Frontiers in Sports and Active Living |
| spelling | doaj.art-35825cd940594afaa6f045541a279d2f2022-12-22T00:29:39ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Sports and Active Living2624-93672020-07-01210.3389/fspor.2020.00094539405Interactions Between Different Age-Related Factors Affecting Balance Control in WalkingHendrik Reimann0Rachid Ramadan1Tyler Fettrow2Tyler Fettrow3Jocelyn F. Hafer4Hartmut Geyer5John J. Jeka6Department of Kinesiology and Applied Physiology, University of Delaware, Newark, DE, United StatesInstitute for Neural Computation, Ruhr University, Bochum, GermanyDepartment of Kinesiology and Applied Physiology, University of Delaware, Newark, DE, United StatesDepartment of Applied Physiology and Kinesiology, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, United StatesDepartment of Kinesiology and Applied Physiology, University of Delaware, Newark, DE, United StatesRobotics Institute, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA, United StatesDepartment of Kinesiology and Applied Physiology, University of Delaware, Newark, DE, United StatesMaintaining balance during walking is a continuous sensorimotor control problem. Throughout the movement, the central nervous system has to collect sensory data about the current state of the body in space, use this information to detect possible threats to balance and adapt the movement pattern to ensure stability. Failure of this sensorimotor loop can lead to dire consequences in the form of falls, injury and death. Such failures tend to become more prevalent as people get older. While research has established a number of factors associated with higher risk of falls, we know relatively little about age-related changes of the underlying sensorimotor control loop and how such changes are related to empirically established risk factors. This paper approaches the problem of age-related fall risk from a neural control perspective. We begin by summarizing recent empirical findings about the neural control laws mapping sensory input to motor output for balance control during walking. These findings were established in young, neurotypical study populations and establish a baseline of sensorimotor control of balance. We then review correlates for deteriorating balance control in older adults, of muscle weakness, slow walking, cognitive decline, and increased visual dependency. While empirical associations between these factors and fall risk have been established reasonably well, we know relatively little about the underlying causal relationships. Establishing such causal relationships is hard, because the different factors all co-vary with age and are difficult to isolate empirically. One option to analyze the role of an individual factor for balance control is to use computational models of walking comprising all levels of the sensorimotor control loop. We introduce one such model that generates walking movement patterns from a short list of spinal reflex modules with limited supraspinal modulation for balance. We show how this model can be used to simulate empirical studies, and how comparison between the model and empirical results can indicate gaps in our current understanding of balance control. We also show how different aspects of aging can be added to this model to study their effect on balance control in isolation.https://www.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fspor.2020.00094/fullagingbalancemodelingneuromechanicvisionmuscle strength |
| spellingShingle | Hendrik Reimann Rachid Ramadan Tyler Fettrow Tyler Fettrow Jocelyn F. Hafer Hartmut Geyer John J. Jeka Interactions Between Different Age-Related Factors Affecting Balance Control in Walking Frontiers in Sports and Active Living aging balance modeling neuromechanic vision muscle strength |
| title | Interactions Between Different Age-Related Factors Affecting Balance Control in Walking |
| title_full | Interactions Between Different Age-Related Factors Affecting Balance Control in Walking |
| title_fullStr | Interactions Between Different Age-Related Factors Affecting Balance Control in Walking |
| title_full_unstemmed | Interactions Between Different Age-Related Factors Affecting Balance Control in Walking |
| title_short | Interactions Between Different Age-Related Factors Affecting Balance Control in Walking |
| title_sort | interactions between different age related factors affecting balance control in walking |
| topic | aging balance modeling neuromechanic vision muscle strength |
| url | https://www.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fspor.2020.00094/full |
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