Influence of age on the frequency characteristics of the soleus muscle response to Achilles tendon vibration during standing

Key points Proprioceptive sensory information from the ankle joint is critical for the control of upright posture and balance. We examined the influence of age (n = 54 healthy adults, 20-82 years old) on lower limb muscle responses to proprioceptive perturbations evoked by Achilles tendon vibration during standing. The frequency bandwidth of the muscle response became narrower, and the gain (the muscle response relative to the stimulus) and scaling (increases in response amplitude with increases in stimulus amplitude) decreased with age. Mechanics of the muscle-tendon unit (mechanical admittance) did not differ with age during standing, and thus probably did not mediate the age-related changes observed in soleus muscle responses to vibration. These findings add to our understanding of how altered proprioceptive responses may contribute to impaired mobility and falls with ageing. Proprioceptive information from the ankle joint plays an important role in the control of upright posture and balance. Ageing influences many components of the sensorimotor system, which leads to poor mobility and falls. However, little is known about the influence of age on the characteristics of short latency muscle responses to proprioceptive stimuli during standing across frequencies that are encoded by muscle spindles. We examined the frequency characteristics of the soleus muscle response to noisy (10-115 Hz) Achilles tendon vibration during standing in 54 healthy adults across a broad age range (20-82 years). The results showed the frequency bandwidth of the soleus response (vibration-electromyography coherence) became progressively narrower with ageing. Coherence was significantly lower in middle-aged relative to young adults between similar to 7-11 and 28-62 Hz, lower in older relative to middle-aged adults between similar to 30-50 Hz and lower in older relative to young adults between similar to 7-64 Hz. Muscle response gain was similar between age groups at low frequencies, although gain was lower in older relative to young adults between similar to 28-54 Hz. Across the age range, the response amplitude (peak-to-peak cross-covariance) and the scaling of the response with stimulus amplitude were both negatively correlated with age. Muscle-tendon mechanics (admittance) did not differ with age, suggesting this did not mediate differences in soleus responses. Our findings suggest there is a progressive change in the soleus response to proprioceptive stimuli with ageing during standing, which could contribute to poorer mobility and falls.