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Muscle Coordination During Rapid Force Production by Young and Older Adults

Perception and Motor Systems Laboratory, School of Human Movement Studies, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia.

Address correspondence to Benjamin K. Barry, Department of Integrative Physiology, University of Colorado, Boulder, CO 80309-0354. E-mail: benjamin.barry{at}colorado.edu

Background. Older adults typically exhibit dramatic reductions in the rate of force development and deficits in the execution of rapid coordinated movements. The purpose of the current study was to investigate the association between the reduced rate of force development exhibited by older adults and the ability to coordinate groups of muscles.

Methods. The performance of a visually guided aiming task that required the generation of isometric torque about the elbow joint was compared in 10 young adults (age range, 19 to 29 years) and 10 older adults (age range, 65 to 80 years). Participants were required to exert isometric torque in flexion, extension, pronation, or supination, or in combinations of these directions, to reach a target in minimum time. Surface electromyograms were obtained from the biceps brachii, triceps brachii, brachioradialis, and flexor carpi radialis.

Results. Older participants exhibited slower target acquisition times compared with young participants (p <.05), with the extent of the differences between the groups varying markedly between target locations.

Conclusions. The impairment in performance, although partially attributable to a general decline in the ability to produce force rapidly, was also affected by the requirements for muscular coordination. At the neuromuscular level, differences between the young and the elderly were expressed most prominently in the bifunctional muscle biceps brachii and in certain temporal aspects of muscular coordination.