Related Experiment Video
Updated: Dec 28, 2025
Functional and Morphological Assessment of Diaphragm Innervation by Phrenic Motor Neurons
Published on: May 25, 2015
Ageing of the Diaphragm Muscle
Bruno Bordoni1, Bruno Morabito2, Marta Simonelli3
1Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Foundation Don Carlo Gnocchi, Milan, ITA.
Abstract:
The diaphragm muscle is the most important contractile district used for breathing. Like other muscles in the human body, it is subject to ageing and sarcopenia. Sarcopenia can be classified as primary (or age-related) when there are no local or systemic pathologies that cause a functional and morphological detriment of skeletal musculature. Secondary sarcopenia occurs when there is a cause or more pathological causes (illness, malnutrition, immobility) related or unrelated to ageing. In the elderly population, transdiaphragmatic pressure (Pdi) decreases by 20-41%, with a decline in the overall strength of 30% (the strength of the expiratory muscles also decreases). The article discusses the adaptation of the diaphragm muscle to ageing and some other ailments and co-morbidities, such as back pain, emotional alterations, motor incoordination, and cognitive disorders, which are related to breathing.
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