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Updated: Apr 4, 2026
Experimental Methods to Study Human Postural Control
Published on: September 11, 2019
Age-Related Differences in Postural Control and Attentional Cost During Tasks Performed in a One-Legged Standing
Hikaru Ihira1, Hyuma Makizako, Atsushi Mizumoto
11Department of Physical Therapy, School of Health Sciences, Sapporo Medical University, Sapporo, Japan. 2Department of Health and Welfare, Hokkaido Government, Sapporo, Japan. 3Department of Preventive Gerontology, National Center for Geriatrics and Gerontology, Morioka, Obu, Japan. 4Department of Occupational Therapy, School of Health Sciences, Sapporo Medical University, Chuo-ku, Japan.
Background And Purpose:
In dual-task situations, postural control is closely associated with attentional cost. Previous studies have reported age-related differences between attentional cost and postural control, but little is known about the association in conditions with a one-legged standing posture. The purpose of this study was to determine age-related differences in postural control and attentional cost while performing tasks at various difficulty levels in a one-legged standing posture.
Methods:
In total, 29 healthy older adults aged 64 to 78 years [15 males, 14 females, mean (SD) = 71.0 (3.8) years] and 29 healthy young adults aged 20 to 26 years [14 males, 15 females, mean (SD) = 22.5 (1.5) years] participated in this study. We measured the reaction time, trunk accelerations, and lower limb muscle activity under 3 different one-legged standing conditions-on a firm surface, on a soft surface with a urethane mat, and on a softer more unstable surface with 2 piled urethane mats. Reaction time as an indication of attentional cost was measured by pressing a handheld button as quickly as possible in response to an auditory stimulus. A 2-way repeated-measures analysis of variance was performed to examine the differences between the 3 task conditions and the 2 age groups for each outcome.
Results And Discussion:
Trunk accelerations showed a statistically significant group-by-condition interaction in the anteroposterior (F = 9.1, P < .05), mediolateral (F = 9.9, P < .05), and vertical (F = 9.3, P < .05) directions. Muscle activity did not show a statistically significant group-by-condition interaction, but there was a significant main effect of condition in the tibialis anterior muscle (F = 33.1, P < .01) and medial gastrocnemius muscle (F = 14.7, P < .01) in young adults and the tibialis anterior muscle (F = 24.8, P < .01) and medial gastrocnemius muscle (F = 10.8, P < .01) in older adults. In addition, there was a statistically significant interaction in reaction time (F = 8.2, P < .05) for group-by-condition.
Conclusions:
The study results confirmed that reaction times in older adults are more prolonged than young adults in the same challenging postural control condition.
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