Ho Ming-Cho, Fu Hao-Lun, Kao Shih-Chun, Moreau David, Liang Wei-Kuang, Kuo Hsin-Yu, Wang Chun-Hao
Institute of Physical Education, Health & Leisure Studies, National Cheng Kung University, Tainan City, Taiwan (ROC).
Department of Physical Therapy, Tzu Hui Institute of Technology, Pingtung County, Taiwan (ROC).
Eur J Neurosci. 2025 Apr;61(7):e70101. doi: 10.1111/ejn.70101.
This study investigated the relationship between lower limb muscle strength and temporal preparation in older adults using an electroencephalogram to assess neural oscillations during cognitive processes. Forty older adults were divided into higher (HSG, 70.40 ± 5.15 years) and lower muscle strength (LSG, 71.43 ± 4.86 years) groups based on quadriceps strength estimated via a manual muscle test. Functional mobility was assessed using the Timed Up and Go (TUG) test, while temporal preparation was evaluated using a choice response time (RT) task with randomly varying foreperiods (FPs) that required lower limb motor responses. The HSG outperformed the LSG on both the TUG test (HSG: 6.07 ± 1.14 vs. LSG: 6.79 ± 0.88, p = 0.031) and the cognitive task (HSG: 462.97 ± 51.06 ms vs. LSG: 525.86 ± 73.69 ms, p = 0.002), despite no clear FP effect in either group. Additionally, the HSG demonstrated a more pronounced modulation of oscillatory beta power during the late phase of longer FP trials (qs < 0.05, FDR corrected), whereas no significant modulation was observed during shorter FP trials. Crucially, mediation analysis indicated that beta power significantly mediated the relationship between lower limb strength and RT in longer FP trials [b = -24.21; 95% CI = (-53.51, -0.24)]. In summary, these findings suggest that lower limb strength may influence the development of temporal preparation during longer preparatory periods by modulating beta power, potentially serving as a compensatory mechanism to mitigate age-related declines in cognitive processing speed and preserve functional mobility.
本研究通过脑电图来评估认知过程中的神经振荡，调查了老年人下肢肌肉力量与时间准备之间的关系。根据通过徒手肌力测试估计的股四头肌力量，将40名老年人分为较高肌肉力量组（HSG，70.40±5.15岁）和较低肌肉力量组（LSG，71.43±4.86岁）。使用定时起立行走（TUG）测试评估功能活动能力，同时使用具有随机变化前周期（FP）的选择反应时间（RT）任务评估时间准备，该任务需要下肢运动反应。在TUG测试（HSG：6.07±1.14 vs. LSG：6.79±0.88，p = 0.031）和认知任务（HSG：462.97±51.06毫秒vs. LSG：525.86±73.69毫秒，p = 0.002）中，HSG的表现均优于LSG，尽管两组中均未观察到明显的FP效应。此外，在较长FP试验的后期，HSG表现出更明显的振荡β功率调制（q<0.05，FDR校正），而在较短FP试验期间未观察到显著调制。至关重要的是，中介分析表明，在较长FP试验中，β功率显著介导了下肢力量与RT之间的关系[b = -24.21；95%CI =（-53.51，-0.24）]。总之，这些发现表明，下肢力量可能通过调节β功率影响较长准备期内时间准备的发展，这可能是一种补偿机制，以减轻与年龄相关的认知处理速度下降并保持功能活动能力。
