Hübner Lena, Godde Ben, Voelcker-Rehage Claudia
Institute of Human Movement Science and Health, Chemnitz University of Technology, Thüringer Weg 11, 09126 Chemnitz, Germany; Jacobs Center on Lifelong Learning & Institutional Development, Jacobs University Bremen, Campus Ring 1, 28759 Bremen, Germany.
Jacobs Center on Lifelong Learning & Institutional Development, Jacobs University Bremen, Campus Ring 1, 28759 Bremen, Germany; Department of Psychology & Methods, Jacobs University Bremen, Campus Ring 1, 28759 Bremen, Germany.
Behav Brain Res. 2018 Jun 1;345:104-113. doi: 10.1016/j.bbr.2018.02.028. Epub 2018 Feb 24.
Older adults (OA) compared to young adults (YA) reveal deteriorated fine motor control. However, it remains unknown whether this age difference is reflected on the central level, i.e., in electrophysiological correlates such as EEG task-related power (TRPow) in alpha (8-13 Hz) or beta band (13-30 Hz). Furthermore, we were interested in the association between age and alpha/beta power at rest as a potential determinant for TRPow changes. Twenty-five YA (19-29 years) and 45 OA (67-83 years) performed a force modulation (FM) task requiring to match a sinusoidal target force by exerting an isometric force with thumb and index finger. EEG was measured at rest and during FM task. YA outperformed OA in the FM task. For alpha, OA demonstrated less frontal power at rest than YA. For beta, OA revealed more power than YA in frontal, central, and parietal areas at rest. TRPow results depended on whether analyses were controlled for power at rest. When analyses were controlled, OA showed higher TRPow decreases than YA in beta in parietal and occipital areas during FM performance. TRPow decreases for beta were stronger in the contralateral than in the ipsilateral frontal hemisphere in OA than in YA. Decreases in TRPow indicate increased cortical activity to accomplish the FM task. Our findings suggest higher parietal and occipital processing demands while performing the FM task in OA than in YA. This study further confirmed the importance of controlling for EEG power at rest when investigating TRPow during motor performance to account for interindividual variability.
与年轻人（YA）相比，老年人（OA）的精细运动控制能力有所下降。然而，这种年龄差异是否在中枢水平上有所体现，即在诸如阿尔法（8 - 13赫兹）或贝塔波段（13 - 30赫兹）的脑电图任务相关功率（TRPow）等电生理相关性方面，仍不清楚。此外，我们还对静息状态下年龄与阿尔法/贝塔功率之间的关联感兴趣，因为它可能是TRPow变化的一个潜在决定因素。25名年轻人（19 - 29岁）和45名老年人（67 - 83岁）执行了一项力调制（FM）任务，该任务要求通过拇指和食指施加等长力来匹配正弦目标力。在静息状态和FM任务期间测量脑电图。在FM任务中，年轻人的表现优于老年人。对于阿尔法波段，老年人在静息状态下额叶功率低于年轻人。对于贝塔波段，老年人在静息状态下额叶、中央和顶叶区域的功率高于年轻人。TRPow结果取决于分析是否对静息状态下的功率进行了控制。当进行控制分析时，在FM任务执行期间，老年人在顶叶和枕叶区域的贝塔波段TRPow下降幅度高于年轻人。在老年人中，贝塔波段TRPow在对侧额叶半球的下降幅度比对侧额叶半球同侧的下降幅度更大，且老年人的下降幅度大于年轻人。TRPow下降表明为完成FM任务皮质活动增加。我们的研究结果表明，在执行FM任务时，老年人比年轻人对顶叶和枕叶的处理需求更高。这项研究进一步证实了在研究运动表现期间的TRPow时，控制静息状态下脑电图功率以考虑个体间差异的重要性。
