Enhanced Somatosensory Feedback Reduces Prefrontal Cortical Activity During Walking in Older Adults

摘要: BACKGROUND: The coordination of steady state walking is relatively automatic in healthy humans, such that active attention to the details task execution and performance (controlled processing) low. Somatosensation a crucial input spinal brainstem circuits facilitate this automaticity. Impaired somatosensation older adults may reduce automaticity increase controlled processing, thereby contributing deficits function. primary objective study was determine if enhancing somatosensory feedback can processing during walking, as assessed by prefrontal cortical activation. METHODS: Fourteen (age 77.1±5.56 years) with mild mobility participated study. Functional near-infrared spectroscopy used quantify metabolic activity (tissue oxygenation index, TOI) cortex. Prefrontal gait spatiotemporal data were measured treadmill overground while participants wore normal shoes under two conditions enhanced somatosensation: wearing textured insoles no shoes. RESULTS: Relative shoes, yielded bilateral reduction for (ΔTOI = -0.85 -1.19 left right hemispheres, respectively) -0.51 -0.66 respectively). lower -0.69 -1.13 respectively), but not walking. CONCLUSIONS: Enhanced reduces adults. This suggests less intensive utilization Language: en