Hotchkiss Brain Institute, University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta, Canada.
J Neuroeng Rehabil. 2014 Mar 25;11:43. doi: 10.1186/1743-0003-11-43.
Development of clinical neurological assessments aimed at separating normal from abnormal capabilities requires a comprehensive understanding of how basic neurological functions change (or do not change) with increasing age across adulthood. In the case of proprioception, the research literature has failed to conclusively determine whether or not position sense in the upper limb deteriorates in elderly individuals. The present study was conducted a) to quantify whether upper limb position sense deteriorates with increasing age, and b) to generate a set of normative data that can be used for future comparisons with clinical populations.
We examined position sense in 209 healthy males and females between the ages of 18 and 90 using a robotic arm position-matching task that is both objective and reliable. In this task, the robot moved an arm to one of nine positions and subjects attempted to mirror-match that position with the opposite limb. Measures of position sense were recorded by the robotic apparatus in hand-and joint-based coordinates, and linear regressions were used to quantify age-related changes and percentile boundaries of normal behaviour. For clinical comparisons, we also examined influences of sex (male versus female) and test-hand (dominant versus non-dominant) on all measures of position sense.
Analyses of hand-based parameters identified several measures of position sense (Variability, Shift, Spatial Contraction, Absolute Error) with significant effects of age, sex, and test-hand. Joint-based parameters at the shoulder (Absolute Error) and elbow (Variability, Shift, Absolute Error) also exhibited significant effects of age and test-hand.
The present study provides strong evidence that several measures of upper extremity position sense exhibit declines with age. Furthermore, this data provides a basis for quantifying when changes in position sense are related to normal aging or alternatively, pathology.
开发旨在区分正常和异常能力的临床神经评估需要全面了解基本神经功能如何随成年后年龄的增长而变化（或不变）。在本体感觉的情况下，研究文献未能确定上肢的位置感是否会随年龄的增长而恶化。本研究旨在：a）量化上肢位置感是否随年龄增长而恶化，b）生成一套可用于未来与临床人群进行比较的规范数据。
我们使用一种客观可靠的机器人手臂位置匹配任务，检查了 18 至 90 岁之间的 209 名健康男性和女性的位置感。在这个任务中，机器人将手臂移动到九个位置之一，而受试者则试图用对侧肢体镜像匹配该位置。位置感的测量值由机器人装置在手部和关节坐标中记录，线性回归用于量化与年龄相关的变化和正常行为的百分位边界。为了进行临床比较，我们还检查了性别（男性与女性）和测试手（优势手与非优势手）对所有位置感测量值的影响。
手部参数的分析确定了几个位置感测量值（变异性、移位、空间收缩、绝对误差）具有年龄、性别和测试手的显著影响。肩部（绝对误差）和肘部（变异性、移位、绝对误差）的关节参数也表现出年龄和测试手的显著影响。
本研究提供了有力的证据，表明几个上肢位置感的测量值随着年龄的增长而下降。此外，这些数据为量化位置感的变化何时与正常衰老或病理相关提供了基础。
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