Class Project 2: Motor Control And Aging

Class Project 2- Motor Control and Aging

It is often assumed that as all humans age, their motor function becomes more and more impaired. Many people in the elderly population experience problems with posture and balance that can lead to falls. Falls that cause serious injury, such as bone fractures, are known to increase the mortality rate in the elderly. This subject is of particular interest to me as I work in Cardiac Rehabilitation and have seen many patients health spiral downward and eventually lead to death as a result of loss of motor control. Fifty percent of all people older than 80 years fall each year. Of those who fall, 20-30% have moderate to severe injuries such as hip fractures or head injures that decrease mobility and
Motor performance was found to be inversely related to age, positively associated with education, and men having higher levels of motor performance than women. Strength was also found to be inversely related to age, positively associated with education, and men having higher strength levels than women. During a mean follow-up time of 2.2 years, 81 of the 837 study participants died. In a proportional hazards model adjusted for age, sex, education and body mass index (BMI) , each one-unit annual increase in motor performance was associated with an approximately 11% decrease in the risk of mortality. In addition, each unit of increase in the level of baseline motor performance was associated with an approximately 9% decrease in risk of mortality. Similarly, each one-unit annual increase in strength was associated with a 10% decrease in the risk of mortality. Although men and women were analyzed together in the study, the results were similar when men and women were analyzed separately and after controlling for factors such as chronic disorders, cognition and physical activity levels. When both muscle strength and motor performance were examined in a single model, only annual and baseline change in motor performance were associated with
al entitled "Gait Analysis and Tailored Exercise Prescription in Older Adults" seems to concur with Hess and Woolacott's finding after examining the gait characteristics in this population in an attempt to target preventative interventions. As we know, with increasing age, motor function becomes more difficult and more conscious attention needs to be paid to tasks such as walking, sitting, etc. Gait regularity is therefore affected in the elderly and stride to stride variability increasing which is a characteristic that most fallers tend to have. The study proposes that regular walking exercise, and particularly Tai Chi which has an emphasis on sequenced, slow, and highly controlled movements would help the elderly relearn previously automatic gait functions and thus decrease the risk of falls and mortality