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Postural adjustment errors during lateral step initiation in older and younger adults

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An Erratum to this article was published on 18 January 2015

Abstract

The purpose was to examine age differences and varying levels of step response inhibition on the performance of a voluntary lateral step initiation task. Seventy older adults (70–94 years) and twenty younger adults (21–58 years) performed visually cued step initiation conditions based on direction and spatial location of arrows, ranging from a simple choice reaction time task to a perceptual inhibition task that included incongruous cues about which direction to step (e.g., a left pointing arrow appearing on the right side of a monitor). Evidence of postural adjustment errors and step latencies were recorded from vertical ground reaction forces exerted by the stepping leg. Compared with younger adults, older adults demonstrated greater variability in step behavior, generated more postural adjustment errors during conditions requiring inhibition, and had greater step initiation latencies that increased more than younger adults as the inhibition requirements of the condition became greater. Step task performance was related to clinical balance test performance more than executive function task performance.

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Acknowledgments

The authors thank Susan Strelinski, James Cook, Rob Cavanaugh and Michelle Lin for their instrumental work in conducting the experiment. This research was supported by funding from the National Institutes of Health (R01 AG031118, P30 AG024827, P30 DC005205), including the Pittsburgh Claude D. Pepper Older Americans Independence Center (P30 AG024827), and the Eye and Ear Foundation.

Conflict of interest

No conflicts of interest, financial or otherwise, are declared by the author(s).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Physical Therapy, University of Pittsburgh, 6035 Forbes Tower, Pittsburgh, PA, 15260, USA

    Patrick J. Sparto, Mark S. Redfern & Joseph M. Furman

  2. Department of Otolaryngology, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, 15260, USA

    Patrick J. Sparto, Susan I. Fuhrman, Mark S. Redfern & Joseph M. Furman

  3. Department of Bioengineering, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, 15260, USA

    Patrick J. Sparto, Mark S. Redfern & Joseph M. Furman

  4. Department of Medicine, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, 15260, USA

    Subashan Perera

  5. Department of Psychiatry, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, 15260, USA

    J. Richard Jennings

  6. Department of Psychology, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, 15260, USA

    J. Richard Jennings

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  1. Patrick J. Sparto
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Correspondence to Patrick J. Sparto.

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Sparto, P.J., Fuhrman, S.I., Redfern, M.S. et al. Postural adjustment errors during lateral step initiation in older and younger adults. Exp Brain Res 232, 3977–3989 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00221-014-4081-z

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00221-014-4081-z

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