Research Center for Movement Control and Neuroplasticity, Department of Biomedical Kinesiology, K.U. Leuven, Heverlee, Belgium.
Neurobiol Aging. 2012 Sep;33(9):1900-12. doi: 10.1016/j.neurobiolaging.2011.06.013. Epub 2011 Aug 26.
Aging is characterized by brain structural changes that may compromise motor functions. In the context of postural control, white matter integrity is crucial for the efficient transfer of visual, proprioceptive and vestibular feedback in the brain. To determine the role of age-related white matter decline as a function of the sensory feedback necessary to correct posture, we acquired diffusion weighted images in young and old subjects. A force platform was used to measure changes in body posture under conditions of compromised proprioceptive and/or visual feedback. In the young group, no significant brain structure-balance relations were found. In the elderly however, the integrity of a cluster in the frontal forceps explained 21% of the variance in postural control when proprioceptive information was compromised. Additionally, when only the vestibular system supplied reliable information, the occipital forceps was the best predictor of balance performance (42%). Age-related white matter decline may thus be predictive of balance performance in the elderly when sensory systems start to degrade.
衰老是大脑结构发生变化的特征，这可能会影响运动功能。在姿势控制的背景下，白质的完整性对于大脑中视觉、本体感觉和前庭反馈的有效传递至关重要。为了确定与年龄相关的白质下降作为纠正姿势所需的感官反馈的功能，我们在年轻和年老的受试者中获取了扩散加权图像。使用力台来测量在本体感觉和/或视觉反馈受损的情况下身体姿势的变化。在年轻组中，没有发现大脑结构与平衡之间有显著关系。然而，在老年人中，当本体感觉信息受损时，额钳中的一个簇的完整性可以解释 21%的姿势控制的变异性。此外，当只有前庭系统提供可靠的信息时，枕骨钳是平衡表现的最佳预测因子（42%）。因此，当感觉系统开始退化时，与年龄相关的白质下降可能是老年人平衡表现的预测因素。
