Light touch compensates peripheral somatosensory degradation in postural control of older adults

Autor(es)

Barela, Ana M. F. ^[1] ; Caporicci, Sarah ^[1] ; de Freitas, Paulo Barbosa ^[1] ; Jeka, John J. ^[2] ; Barela, Jose A. ^{[1, 3]}

Afiliação do(s) autor(es)

^[1] Cruzeiro do Sul Univ, Inst Phys Act & Sport Sci, Rua Galvao Bueno 868, BR-01506000 Sao Paulo, SP - Brazil

^[2] Univ Delaware, Dept Kinesiol & Appl Physiol, 201T Hlth Sci Complex, Newark, DE - USA

^[3] Sao Paulo State Univ, Dept Phys Educ, Ave 24-A, BR-13506900 Rio Claro, SP - Brazil

• Tipo de documento: Artigo Científico
• Fonte: HUMAN MOVEMENT SCIENCE; v. 60, p. 122-130, AUG 2018.
• Citações Web of Science: 1

Resumo

The present study aimed to investigate the sensitivity of detecting lower limb passive motion and use of additional sensory information from fingertip light touch for the postural control of older adults in comparison with young adults. A total of 11 older and 11 young adults (aged 68.1 +/- 5.2 and 24.2 +/- 2.2 years, respectively) underwent two tasks. We evaluated their sensitivity to passive ankle joint movement while seated in the first task. Participants then stood quietly on a force plate in a semi-tandem stance, for 30 s under two fingertip contact force conditions (no touch and light touch limited to 1 N). The results showed that the threshold of passive ankle displacement and body sway is higher in older adults than in young adults. The body sway reduced for both older and young adults with the addition of light touch at the fingertips. The maximum cross-correlation coefficient and time lags between body sway and fingertip light touch center of pressure was similar between both groups, suggesting that older adults used light touch to reduce body sway, similar to young adults. A higher threshold in detecting passive ankle joint movement may contribute to the increased body sway observed in older adults. These deficits may be compensated by additional sensory cues that would provide enhanced information used to control the upright stance. (AU)

• Processo FAPESP: 09/15003-0 - Uso de informação somatossensorial no controle postural de idosos
• Beneficiário: Ana Maria Forti Barela
• Modalidade de apoio: Auxílio à Pesquisa - Regular