Clark Brian C, Taylor Janet L
Ohio University, Department of Biomedical Sciences,Athens, OH 45701, USA.
Curr Aging Sci. 2011 Dec;4(3):192-9. doi: 10.2174/1874609811104030192.
Aging is associated with dramatic reductions in muscle strength and motor control, and many of these agerelated changes in muscle function result from adaptations in the central nervous system. Aging is associated with widespread qualitative and quantitative changes of the motor cortex. For example, advancing age has been suggested to result in cortical atrophy, reduced cortical excitability, reduced cortical plasticity, as well as neurochemical abnormalities.The associated functional effects of these changes likely influence numerous aspects of muscle performance such as muscle strength and motor control. For example, there is evidence to suggest that the muscle weakness associated with aging is partially due to impairments in the nervous system's ability to fully activate motor neurons- particularly in the larger proximal muscle groups. In this review article we discuss age-related changes in the motor cortex, as well as the abilityor lack thereof- of older adults to voluntarily activate skeletal muscle. We also provide perspectives on scientific and clinical questions that need to be addressed in the near future.
衰老与肌肉力量和运动控制的显著下降有关，肌肉功能中许多与年龄相关的变化是由中枢神经系统的适应性变化引起的。衰老与运动皮层广泛的定性和定量变化有关。例如，有研究表明，年龄增长会导致皮质萎缩、皮质兴奋性降低、皮质可塑性降低以及神经化学异常。这些变化的相关功能影响可能会影响肌肉性能的许多方面，如肌肉力量和运动控制。例如，有证据表明，与衰老相关的肌肉无力部分是由于神经系统完全激活运动神经元的能力受损，尤其是在较大的近端肌肉群中。在这篇综述文章中，我们讨论了运动皮层与年龄相关的变化，以及老年人自愿激活骨骼肌的能力或缺乏这种能力的情况。我们还对近期需要解决的科学和临床问题提供了观点。
