Age-related reversal of spinal excitability during anticipatory postural control

An internal perturbation of standing balance activates muscles critical for maintaining balance and is preceded by anticipatory postural adjustments (APAs). In healthy younger adults, a measure of spinal excitability in the form of the Hoffmann (H) reflex becomes depressed during APAs but how aging affects the reflex control of APAs is unknown.

We compared H reflex excitability profiles in the right soleus muscle, indirectly indicating APA, between younger (n = 11, age 19-24 years), middle-aged (n = 10, age 37-56 years), and older healthy adults (n = 11, age 63-78 years). Subjects rapidly raised the right-dominant arm in response to an auditory cue. The H reflex was evoked 120 ms, 100 ms, 80 ms, 60 ms, 40 ms, 20 ms, and 0 ms before as well as 20 ms after the onset of the right anterior deltoid muscle activation. For data processing, each trial was controlled for the corresponding background EMG activity before normalizing the standing data to the data in sitting in the 8 time bins.

All subjects showed a silent period in the soleus background electromyographic activity, suggesting the presence of APA. We found that the stereotypical H reflex depression associated with APAs in younger adults was reduced in middle-aged adults and reversed to facilitation in older adults. The depression occurred in 10 out of 11 younger adults, whereas all 11 older adults exhibited facilitation.

Because APAs are organized at the supraspinal level, we speculate a supraspinal origin of the age-related reflex facilitation during APAs.