Sensory Interactions for Head and Trunk Control in Space in Young and Older Adults During Normal and Narrow-Base Walking

Abstract

Fifteen young (20–30 years old) and 15 older (>65 years old) healthy participants were recruited to investigate age-related differences in head and trunk control under suboptimal vestibular conditions (galvanic vestibular stimulation, or GVS) and vision conditions during normal and narrow-based walking. Head-roll velocity decreased in the blurred-vision condition and marginally increased with GVS in older but not in young participants. Head pitch increased, whereas head-roll velocity decreased in narrow-base walking. Trunk pitch, trunk-pitch velocity, and gait speed increased with GVS, whereas trunk-pitch velocity and gait speed decreased in narrow-base walking. Marginally increased head-roll velocity in the older participants possibly suggests decreased integrative ability of the central nervous system in elderly people. The changes in head control during narrow-base walking may be an attempt to simplify the interpretation of the vestibular signal and increase otolith sensitivity. The complexity of controlling the trunk in the mediolateral direction was suggested by different strategies used for trunk control in different conditions.