Physical activity benefits young and elderly alike
Physical activity is beneficial for lower leg muscle
coordination across both sides of the body in both the young and the elderly, a
new study has shown.
Lower limb muscle communication is essential for everyday
tasks, such as walking, balancing, and climbing stairs.
"The results of this study suggest that
participation in physical activity contributes to greater crossed-spinal reflex
stability in both young and elderly subjects," said exercise scientist
Rachel Ryder, a visiting research associate in the IU School of Public
Health-Bloomington.
"In other words, the two lower legs maintain stable
muscular communication patterns, which could contribute to better coordination
of muscles across the right and left side of the body. The lack of this
coordination or stability could exacerbate fall risk in older, sedentary
subjects."
Ryder`s study involved 28 healthy men and women who were
sorted by age into two groups: 14 subjects in a group of people 20- to 25-years
old; the rest were over 65.
Based on the International Physical Activity
Questionnaire, the two groups were divided further into physically active or
sedentary.
The researchers tested reflexes by alternately
stimulating nerves in each leg with an electrical current while study
participants rested in a prone position.
"Participation in physical activity could play an
important role in maintaining the muscle reflex system in the lower limbs and
assist in coordination throughout life," Ryder said.
"This is particularly important in older adults.
While voluntary movement has a large role to play in fall-prevention, the motor
systems ``first line of defense`` against a slip or trip is the reflex system.
The muscle reflexes are capable of generating a motor response in under 50
milliseconds, allowing the reflex system to quickly correct for a sudden change
in body position, or at the least, reduce the impact of the fall,” she added.
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