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Postural adaptations to repeated optic flow stimulation in older adults
Kathryn W O'Connor1, Patrick J Loughlin, Mark S Redfern
1Department of Bioengineering, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA 15260, USA.
Gait & Posture
|March 11, 2008
Summary
Older adults show reduced ability to adapt postural responses to visual cues, requiring more exposures than young adults to habituate to optic flow changes. This indicates aging impacts sensory feedback processing for balance.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Gerontology
- Biomechanics
Background:
- Postural control relies on integrating visual, vestibular, and somatosensory information.
- Aging can affect sensory processing and motor adaptation, impacting balance.
- Visual cues, like optic flow, are crucial for maintaining postural stability.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate age-related differences in adaptation and habituation to visual optic flow.
- To examine postural responses to constant and changing optic flow magnitudes in older and young adults.
- To understand how aging affects the ability to modify sensory weighting for postural stabilization.
Main Methods:
- Measured postural sway (head sway velocity) in 24 older and 25 young adults.
- Exposed participants to sinusoidal optic flow at varying amplitudes (4 cm and 12 cm) and transitions.
- Analyzed changes in sway power within and between trials using ANOVA.
Main Results:
- Older adults exhibited greater postural sway (P(vel)) across all conditions.
- Both groups adapted within trials, but older adults habituated more across trials.
- Older adults showed increased sway after optic flow transitions, unlike young adults.
Conclusions:
- Older adults can habituate to visual perturbations but require more exposures than younger adults.
- Aging impairs the capacity to rapidly adjust sensory feedback for postural control.
- These findings highlight age-related changes in the neural mechanisms of balance.
