Prefrontal Cortex Activity in Older Ddults during Overground and Treadmill Walk

Presenter

Ashwin Iyengar

Campus

UMass Amherst

Sponsor

Douglas Martini, Department of Kinesiology, UMass Amherst

Schedule

Session 5, 3:30 PM - 4:15 PM [Schedule by Time][Poster Grid for Time/Location]

Location

Poster Board A63, Campus Center Auditorium, Row 4 (A61-A80) [Poster Location Map]

Abstract

Background & Aims

Gait dysfunction is common in older adults, possibly a result of impaired motor automaticity. The prefrontal cortex (PFC) is recruited to compensate for impaired motor automaticity, though in an imperfect way. PFC activation during gait slows a response to perturbation and may increase fall risk. Increasing gait automaticity by limiting gait speed variability (e.g., treadmill) might reduce PFC activity in older adults during gait. The purpose of this study was to explore prefrontal cortex activity during treadmill and overground walking in older adults.   

Methods

Four older adults (mean=72 [s.d.=4.32] years) performed two gait tasks: a 3-minute overground walk, at the subject's preferred speed, along a 17 m walkway; and a 3-minute treadmill walk at the overground preferred speed. PFC activity was measured using functional near-infrared spectroscopy. Four key channels were selected for analysis corresponding to the bilateral PFC. For each condition, the relative change in PFC activation between walking and baseline standing was assessed. Within-subjects comparisons were made using a paired samples t-test.  

Results

Relative PFC activity changes in older adults between overground (+0.03[0.04] μmol) and treadmill (+0.04[0.13] μmol) gait conditions were not significantly different. 

Conclusion

Levels of PFC activation appear to be similar during overground and treadmill gait in older adults. This preliminary result suggests that imposing gait speed limitations does not change gait task complexity enough to improve gait automaticity in older adults. Future investigations should seek to limit other gait components to determine if gait automaticity can be improved in older adults.

Keywords

Prefrontal cortex activation, Gait tasks, Functional near-infrared spectroscopy, Change in activation

Research Area

Neuroscience and Cognitive Science

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