Discrepancy in the involution of the different neural loops with age

The purpose of the study was to compare the effects of sensory manipulations on postural control for subjects of different ages. A young group of subjects (n = 17; 20.0 ± 1.3 years) and an old group of subjects (n = 17; 74.7 ± 6.3 years) were compared in 14 postural conditions [2 reference conditions and 12 sensory manipulation conditions: eyes closed, cervical collar, tendon vibration, electromyostimulation, galvanic vestibular stimulation (2 designs), foam surface] on a force platform. Spatio-temporal parameters of the center of foot pressure displacement were analyzed. When vestibular or proprioceptive afferences were manipulated, the old group was more disturbed than the young group. In addition, when myo-articular proprioceptive afferences were the only non-manipulated information source, the old group was also more disturbed than the young group. Hence, the inability to correctly interpret proprioceptive information and/or the impairment of myo-articular information would appear to be the major factor causing postural control deterioration. Moreover, concerning the vestibular system, it may be that aging alters the central integration of vestibular afferences. These results suggest that aging differently affects the functional ability of the different neural loops in postural control.