Journal
EXPERIMENTAL BRAIN RESEARCH
Volume 167, Issue 3, Pages 468-474Publisher
SPRINGER
DOI: 10.1007/s00221-005-0182-z
Keywords
vestibular system; neck receptors; sensory integration; locomotion; aging
Categories
Ask authors/readers for more resources
Both vestibular and neck proprioceptive inputs contribute towards maintaining a walking trajectory. We investigated how aging alters neck proprioceptive and vestibular interaction for preserving equilibrium and spatial orientation during locomotion. Young and healthy elderly were exposed to two sensory manipulations as they walked, eyes closed, to a target located straight ahead: (1) right side dorsal neck muscle vibration (Vib), and (2) Vib + transmastoidal galvanic vestibular stimulation (Vib + GVS). The maximum path deviation, average frontal centre of mass velocity and average trunk roll were evaluated. Trunk yaw rotation was computed at every metre of the path. We observed that directional responses to neck muscle stimulation were very sensitive to the reference frame generated by vestibular information. The attenuation of path deviation in older adults can be attributed to a reduced sensitivity of the neck proprioceptive system rather than the vestibular system.
Authors
I am an author on this paper
Click your name to claim this paper and add it to your profile.
Reviews
Recommended
No Data Available