Do Older Adults Select Appropriate Motor Strategies in a Stepping-Down Paradigm?

ABSTRACT: Selecting motor strategies in daily life tasks requires a perception of the task requirements as well as of one's own physical abilities. Age-related cognitive and physical changes may affect these perceptions. This might entail that some older adults select inappropriate movement strategies when confronted with daily-life motor tasks, which could lead to balance loss or falls. We investigated whether older adults select motor strategies in accordance with their actual physical ability. Twenty-one older adults were subjected to a stepping down paradigm, in which full-body kinematics of selected and reactive behavior were recorded. Stepping down from a curb can be done with either (1) a relatively low effort but more balance threatening heel landing, or (2) a more controlled but more demand

SUBMITTER: Kluft N 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6194179 | biostudies-literature | 2018

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature