Thomas Neil M, Donovan Tim, Dewhurst Susan, Bampouras Theodoros M
Department of Medical and Sport Sciences, Active Ageing Research Group, University of Cumbria, Lancaster, LA1 4DH, UK; Research Institute for Sports and Exercise Sciences, Liverpool John Moores University, Liverpool, L3 3AF, UK.
Department of Medical and Sport Sciences, Active Ageing Research Group, University of Cumbria, Lancaster, LA1 4DH, UK.
Neurosci Lett. 2018 Jun 11;677:78-83. doi: 10.1016/j.neulet.2018.04.038. Epub 2018 Apr 22.
Balance control during overground walking was assessed in 10 young (23.6 ± 3.4) and 10 older (71.0 ± 5.5 years) healthy females during free gaze, and when fixating or tracking another person in an everyday use waiting room. Balance control was characterised by medial/lateral sacrum acceleration dispersion, and gaze fixations were simultaneously assessed with eye tracking equipment. The results showed decreased balance control when fixating a stationary (p = 0.003, g = 0.19) and tracking a walking (p = 0.027, g = 0.16) person compared to free gaze. The older adults exhibited reduced baseline stability throughout, but the decrease caused by the visual tasks was not more profound than the younger adults. The decreased balance control when fixating on or tracking the observed person was likely due to more challenging conditions for interpreting retinal flow, which facilitated less reliable estimates of self-motion through vision. The older adults either processed retinal flow during the tasks as effectively as the young adults, or they adopted a more rigid posture to facilitate visual stability, which masked any ageing effect of the visual tasks. The decrease in balance control, the first to be shown in this context, may warrant further investigation in those with ocular or vestibular dysfunction.
在日常使用的候诊室中，对10名年轻（23.6±3.4岁）和10名年长（71.0±5.5岁）健康女性在自由注视、注视或跟踪另一个人时的地面行走平衡控制进行了评估。平衡控制以骶骨内侧/外侧加速度离散度为特征，同时使用眼动追踪设备评估注视情况。结果显示，与自由注视相比，注视静止的人时平衡控制下降（p = 0.003，g = 0.19），跟踪行走的人时平衡控制下降（p = 0.027，g = 0.16）。年长成年人在整个过程中基线稳定性降低，但视觉任务导致的下降并不比年轻成年人更明显。注视或跟踪被观察对象时平衡控制下降可能是由于解释视网膜流的条件更具挑战性，这使得通过视觉对自身运动的估计不太可靠。年长成年人在任务过程中处理视网膜流的效率要么与年轻成年人一样高，要么他们采取了更僵硬的姿势以促进视觉稳定性，从而掩盖了视觉任务的任何衰老效应。在这种情况下首次显示的平衡控制下降，可能值得对有眼部或前庭功能障碍的人进行进一步研究。
