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Sager CA, Diamond E, Hulsey-Vincent MR, Marneweck M. Repeated context-specific actions disrupt feedforward adjustments in motor commands in younger and older adults. J Neurophysiol 2024; 131:891-899. [PMID: 38568504 DOI: 10.1152/jn.00455.2023] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/07/2023] [Revised: 03/20/2024] [Accepted: 03/27/2024] [Indexed: 05/09/2024] Open
Abstract
The flexibility of the motor system to adjust a planned action before or during the execution of the movement in response to sensory information is critical for preventing errors in motor control. As individuals age, this function declines, leading to an increased incidence of motor errors. Although sensory processing and cognitive decline are known contributors to this impairment, here, we test the hypothesis that repetition of context-specific planned actions interferes with the adjustment of feedforward motor commands. Younger and older participants were instructed to grasp and lift a T-shaped object with a concealed, off-sided center of mass and minimize its roll through anticipatory force control, relying predominantly on predictive model-driven planning (i.e., sensorimotor memories) developed through repeated lifts. We selectively manipulate the number of trial repeats with the center of mass on one side before switching it to the other side of the T-shaped object. The results showed that increasing the number of repetitions improved performance in manipulating an object with a given center of mass but led to increased errors when the object's center of mass was switched. This deleterious effect of repetition on feedforward motor adjustment was observed in younger and older adults. Critically, we show these effects on an internal model-driven motor planning task that relies predominantly on sensorimotor memory, with no differences in sensory inputs from the repetition manipulation. The findings indicate that feedforward motor adjustments are hampered by repetitive stereotyped planning and execution of motor behavior.NEW & NOTEWORTHY Adjusting planned actions in response to sensory stimuli degrades with age contributing to increased incidence of errors ranging from clumsy spills to catastrophic falls. Multiple factors likely contribute to age-related motor inflexibility, including sensory- and cognition-supporting system declines. Here, we present compelling evidence for repetition to disrupt feedforward adjusting of motor commands in younger and older adults, which suggests increases in stereotypy as a deleterious potentiator of motor control errors.
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Affiliation(s)
- Catherine Anne Sager
- Department of Human Physiology, University of Oregon, Eugene, Oregon, United States
| | - Ella Diamond
- Department of Human Physiology, University of Oregon, Eugene, Oregon, United States
| | | | - Michelle Marneweck
- Department of Human Physiology, University of Oregon, Eugene, Oregon, United States
- Institute of Neuroscience, University of Oregon, Eugene, Oregon, United States
- Phil and Penny Knight Campus for Accelerating Scientific Impact, Eugene, Oregon, United States
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Muller CO, Perrey S, Bakhti K, Muthalib M, Dray G, Xu B, Mottet D, Laffont I. Aging effects on electrical and hemodynamic responses in the sensorimotor network during unilateral proximal upper limb functional tasks. Behav Brain Res 2023; 443:114322. [PMID: 36731658 DOI: 10.1016/j.bbr.2023.114322] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/10/2022] [Revised: 01/04/2023] [Accepted: 01/29/2023] [Indexed: 02/01/2023]
Abstract
Healthy aging leads to poorer performance in upper limb (UL) daily living movements. Understanding the neural correlates linked with UL functional movements may help to better understand how healthy aging affects motor control. Two non-invasive neuroimaging methods allow for monitoring the movement-related brain activity: functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) and electroencephalography (EEG), respectively based on the hemodynamic response and electrical activity of brain regions. Coupled, they provide a better spatiotemporal mapping. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of healthy aging on the bilateral sensorimotor (SM1) activation patterns of functional proximal UL movements. Twenty-one young and 21 old healthy participants realized two unilateral proximal UL movements during: i) a paced reaching target task and ii) a circular steering task to capture the speed-accuracy trade-off. Combined fNIRS-EEG system was synchronised with movement capture system to record SM1 activation while moving. The circular steering task performance was significantly lower for the older group. The rate of increase in hemodynamic response was longer in the older group with no difference on the amplitude of fNIRS signal for the two tasks. The EEG results showed aging related reduction of the alpha-beta rhythms synchronisation but no desynchronisation modification. In conclusion, this study uncovers the age-related changes in brain electrical and hemodynamic response patterns in the bilateral sensorimotor network during two functional proximal UL movements using two complementary neuroimaging methods. This opens up the possibility to utilise combined fNIRS-EEG for monitoring the movement-related neuroplasticity in clinical practice.
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Affiliation(s)
- C O Muller
- EuroMov Digital Health in Motion, Univ Montpellier, IMT Mines Ales, Montpellier, France; Physical Rehabilitation and Medicine, CHU Montpellier, Montpellier, France.
| | - S Perrey
- EuroMov Digital Health in Motion, Univ Montpellier, IMT Mines Ales, Montpellier, France
| | - K Bakhti
- EuroMov Digital Health in Motion, Univ Montpellier, IMT Mines Ales, Montpellier, France; Physical Rehabilitation and Medicine, CHU Montpellier, Montpellier, France; Clinical Research and Epidemiology unit, CHU Montpellier, Univ Montpellier, Montpellier, France
| | - M Muthalib
- EuroMov Digital Health in Motion, Univ Montpellier, IMT Mines Ales, Montpellier, France; Physical Rehabilitation and Medicine, CHU Montpellier, Montpellier, France; Silverline Research, Brisbane, Australia
| | - G Dray
- EuroMov Digital Health in Motion, Univ Montpellier, IMT Mines Ales, Montpellier, France
| | - B Xu
- EuroMov Digital Health in Motion, Univ Montpellier, IMT Mines Ales, Montpellier, France
| | - D Mottet
- EuroMov Digital Health in Motion, Univ Montpellier, IMT Mines Ales, Montpellier, France
| | - I Laffont
- EuroMov Digital Health in Motion, Univ Montpellier, IMT Mines Ales, Montpellier, France; Physical Rehabilitation and Medicine, CHU Montpellier, Montpellier, France
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Murtola T, Richards C. The impact of age-related increase in passive muscle stiffness on simulated upper limb reaching. ROYAL SOCIETY OPEN SCIENCE 2023; 10:221453. [PMID: 36778951 PMCID: PMC9905985 DOI: 10.1098/rsos.221453] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/09/2022] [Accepted: 01/18/2023] [Indexed: 06/18/2023]
Abstract
Ageing changes the musculoskeletal and neural systems, potentially affecting a person's ability to perform daily living activities. One of these changes is increased passive stiffness of muscles, but its contribution to performance is difficult to separate experimentally from other ageing effects such as loss of muscle strength or cognitive function. A computational upper limb model was used to study the effects of increasing passive muscle stiffness on reaching performance across the model's workspace (all points reachable with a given model geometry). The simulations indicated that increased muscle stiffness alone caused deterioration of reaching accuracy, starting from the edges of the workspace. Re-tuning the model's control parameters to match the ageing muscle properties does not fully reverse ageing effects but can improve accuracy in selected regions of the workspace. The results suggest that age-related muscle stiffening, isolated from other ageing effects, impairs reaching performance. The model also exhibited oscillatory instability in a few simulations when the controller was tuned to the presence of passive muscle stiffness. This instability is not observed in humans, implying the presence of natural stabilizing strategies, thus pointing to the adaptive capacity of neural control systems as a potential area of future investigation in age-related muscle stiffening.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tiina Murtola
- Department of Comparative Biomedical Sciences, Royal Veterinary College, London, UK
| | - Christopher Richards
- Department of Comparative Biomedical Sciences, Royal Veterinary College, London, UK
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