Towards an improved understanding of aging: Quantifying changes in movement during healthy aging using an integrated biomechanical approach

提高对衰老的理解：使用综合生物力学方法量化健康衰老过程中的运动变化

• 批准号: RGPIN-2020-05756
• 负责人: SchinkelIvy, Alison
• 金额: $ 1.75万
• 依托单位: Nipissing University
• 依托单位国家: 加拿大
• 项目类别: Discovery Grants Program - Individual
• 财政年份: 2022
• 资助国家: 加拿大
• 起止时间: 2022-01-01 至 2023-12-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nserc-crsng.gc.ca/ase-oro/Details-Detailles_eng.asp?id=764654
• 关键词: Towards; improved; understanding; aging; Quantifying

BACKGROUND: Muscle strength, balance, and mobility decline with aging, contributing to loss of functional independence and inability to continue living independently. As the Canadian population ages, staggering costs will be imposed on our economy and health care system, as the need for hospitalization, in-home care, and long-term care increases. Understanding age-related changes in human function, movement, and balance is more crucial than ever before. Biomechanical signals (i.e., neuromuscular, kinematic, or balance signals) provide insight into how movement is produced and controlled, and relate to falls, pain, and injury. Measures from these signals differ between younger and older adults during tasks such as quiet standing. However, these studies often focus on one biomechanical aspect of movement or several aspects independently; integrating aspects would provide further insight into changes in the organization and control of movement with healthy aging. These changes will be explored using discrete volitional tasks (e.g., lifting, standing from a chair), as these tasks are common in everyday life and relate to fall risk in older adults. OBJECTIVES: This research will explore age-related changes in movement structure, organization, and variability during discrete volitional tasks, using an integrated biomechanical approach. Age-related changes in these tasks will be examined in terms of 1) movement strategies, 2) relationships between biomechanical signals, and 3) relationships in the variability of these signals. METHODS: Younger and older adults with no diagnosed conditions affecting balance or mobility will perform discrete volitional tasks while whole-body motion, ground reaction forces, and muscle activation are measured using motion capture, force plates, and electromyography, respectively. Various aspects of movement structure and organization will be examined, using principal component analysis; cross-correlation of biomechanical signals; and cross-correlation of time-varying variability of biomechanical signals. Relationships between outcomes, and age-related differences in outcomes, will then be explored. IMPACT: The proposed integrated biomechanical approach will provide insight into markers of declining human function during healthy aging, as well as a foundation for a mechanistic model of the aging process. Such a model will explore age-related changes in movement structure, organization, and variability and their underlying mechanisms, improving our understanding of healthy aging. This program will also contribute to strategies to promote function and longevity, which will enable older adults to maintain independence in everyday life. With our aging Canadian population, the knowledge and strategies that will be generated from this research are more crucial than ever before, to reduce the enormous societal costs of older adult care, and to help older adults maintain independence and quality of life.

背景：肌肉力量、平衡性和活动能力随着年龄的增长而下降，导致功能独立性的丧失和无法继续独立生活。随着加拿大人口老龄化，住院、家庭护理和长期护理需求的增加将给我们的经济和医疗保健系统带来惊人的成本。了解与年龄相关的人类功能、运动和平衡变化比以往任何时候都更加重要。 生物力学信号（即神经肌肉、运动学或平衡信号）可以深入了解运动如何产生和控制，以及与跌倒、疼痛和伤害的关系。在安静站立等任务中，年轻人和老年人对这些信号的测量有所不同。然而，这些研究通常集中于运动的一个生物力学方面或独立的几个方面；整合各个方面将进一步深入了解健康老龄化过程中运动的组织和控制的变化。这些变化将通过离散的意志任务（例如，举起、从椅子上站立）来探索，因为这些任务在日常生活中很常见，并且与老年人的跌倒风险有关。目标：本研究将采用综合生物力学方法，探讨离散意志任务期间运动结构、组织和变异性与年龄相关的变化。这些任务中与年龄相关的变化将根据以下方面进行检查：1）运动策略，2）生物力学信号之间的关系，以及3）这些信号变异性的关系。方法：没有诊断出影响平衡或活动能力的情况的年轻人和老年人将执行离散的意志任务，同时使用运动捕捉、测力台和肌电图分别测量全身运动、地面反作用力和肌肉激活。将使用主成分分析来检查运动结构和组织的各个方面；生物力学信号的互相关；以及生物力学信号随时间变化的互相关性。然后将探讨结果之间的关系以及与年龄相关的结果差异。影响：所提出的综合生物力学方法将深入了解健康衰老过程中人类功能下降的标志，并为衰老过程的机械模型奠定基础。这样的模型将探索与年龄相关的运动结构、组织和变异性变化及其潜在机制，提高我们对健康衰老的理解。该计划还将有助于制定促进功能和长寿的策略，使老年人能够在日常生活中保持独立。随着加拿大人口老龄化，这项研究产生的知识和策略比以往任何时候都更加重要，以减少老年人护理的巨大社会成本，并帮助老年人保持独立和生活质量。