ArticleJournal of electromyography and kinesiology : official journal of the International Society of Electrophysiological Kinesiology2019
The effects of cognitive load and optical flow on antagonist leg muscle coactivation during walking for young and older adults.
Article in Journal of electromyography and kinesiology : official journal of the International Society of Electrophysiological Kinesiology, 2019. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 12 papers.
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Who cites it
12 citing papers in PubMed, 22 citations in OpenAlex.
- Neuromuscular adaptation and postural muscle activity patterns during visual virtual reality stimulation: age-related differences between young and older adults.Experimental brain research · 2026Article
- Adaptive alterations in muscle synergies during the recovery step compensate for perturbation-induced stability demands in older adults.BMC geriatrics · 2026Article
- Bilateral lower-limb asymmetry and phase-specific trunk acceleration during the Timed Up and Go in older women: an analysis based on muscle morphology and antagonist coactivation.Frontiers in physiology · 2026Article
- A study on gait and muscle activation characteristics of persons with incomplete spinal cord injury with respect to age stratification.Frontiers in bioengineering and biotechnology · 2026Article
- The effects of series elastic stiffness and cutaneous sensitivity on leg muscle reflex responses to unanticipated slips during walking.Experimental brain research · 2025Article
- Age-related differences in the modulation of muscle coordination complexity for goal-directed lateral stepping.Journal of biomechanics · 2025Article
- Older adults use fewer muscles to overcome perturbations during a seated locomotor task.Journal of neurophysiology · 2024Article
- Dual-Task Interference Effects on Lower-Extremity Muscle Activities during Gait Initiation and Steady-State Gait among Healthy Young Individuals, Measured Using Wireless Electromyography Sensors.Sensors (Basel, Switzerland) · 2023Article
- Cortical correlates in upright dynamic and static balance in the elderly.Scientific reports · 2021Article
- Muscular and cortical activation during dynamic and static balance in the elderly: A scoping review.Aging brain · 2021Article
- Modulation of soleus muscle H-reflexes and ankle muscle co-contraction with surface compliance during unipedal balancing in young and older adults.Experimental brain research · 2020Article
- Achilles tendon shear wave speed tracks the dynamic modulation of standing balance.Physiological reports · 2019Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
4 authors at 3 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
The purpose of this study was to compare how healthy aging interacts with environments that challenge cognitive load and optical flow to affect antagonist leg muscle coactivation during walking. We measured leg muscle activity in sixteen older adults (70.4 ± 4.2 years) and twelve young adults (23.6 ± 3.9 years) walking on a treadmill at their preferred speed while watching a speed-matched virtual hallway. Cognitive load was challenged using a dual-task to interfere with available attentional resources. Optical flow was challenged using perturbations designed to create a perception of lateral imbalance. We found antagonist coactivation increased with aging, independent of condition. We also found that, compared to unperturbed walking, only in the presence of optical flow perturbations did the older adults increase their antagonist coactivation. Antagonist coactivation in the young adults was not affected by either condition. Our findings provide evidence that antagonist leg muscle coactivation in healthy older adults is more sensitive to walking environments that challenge optical flow than environments that challenge cognitive load. As increased antagonist coactivation may indicate compromised balance, these findings may be relevant in the design of living environments to reduce falls risk.
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Registered trials
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