Université de Fribourg

Aging causes a reorganization of cortical and spinal control of posture

Papegaaij, Selma ; Taube, Wolfgang ; Baudry, Stéphane ; Otten, Egbert ; Hortobágyi, Tibor

In: Frontiers in Aging Neuroscience, 2014, vol. 6, p. 28

Classical studies in animal preparations suggest a strong role for spinal control of posture. In humans it is now established that the cerebral cortex contributes to postural control of unperturbed and perturbed standing. The age-related degeneration and accompanying functional changes in the brain, reported so far mainly in conjunction with simple manual motor tasks, may also affect the...

Université de Fribourg

Postural challenge affects motor cortical activity in young and old adults

Papegaaij, Selma ; Taube, Wolfgang ; Keeken, Helco G. van ; Otten, Egbert ; Baudry, Stéphane ; Hortobágyi, Tibor

In: Experimental Gerontology, 2016, vol. 73, p. 78–85

When humans voluntarily activate a muscle, intracortical inhibition decreases. Such a decrease also occurs in the presence of a postural challenge and more so with increasing age. Here, we examined age-related changes in motor cortical activity during postural and non-postural contractions with varying levels of postural challenge. Fourteen young (age 22) and twelve old adults (age 70) performed...