T32 Progress Report

Michael Pascoe
April 2008 - Present
 Projects
1. Long duration contractions in young and
old adults
Objective: to compare changes
in discharge variability during a
long contraction between young
and old adults
 Projects
1. Long duration contractions in young and
old adults
2. Associations between hand steadiness
and hand function with age
Objective: to determine if
performing steady contractions
correlates with performance on
tests of hand function
 Projects
1. Long duration contractions in young and
old adults
2. Associations between hand steadiness
and hand function with age
3. Motor unit recruitment in older adults
Objective: to compare discharge
of motor units at recruitment
between young and old adults
 Projects
1. Long duration contractions in young and
old adults

• How does the discharge of motor units

change during a long contraction?

• Are the adjustments similar in young

and old adults?
Why might adjustments differ in older adults?

Aging

Adaptations
NM System

Remodeling of
Motor Units

! Ability to
Control Force

! Discharge
Characteristics
Fine-wire EMG
 Fine-wire electrode
Force transducer
 Recruitment threshold task
Fine-wire EMG

Recruitment
threshold =
Force 9.6% Max
Long duration contraction
 Discharge variability across time
50
Coefficient of Variation (%)

40
* 33.0
30 27.8
24.4 25.3
22.7
20

10

0
20% 40% 60% 80% 100%

Percent of Contraction
! Force
Capacity OLDER ADULTS?

! Descending
Drive

! Synaptic
Inputs

! Synaptic
Noise

! Discharge
Variability
 Summary

• In young adults, discharge variability

increased with elevated descending drive

• In older adults, we also expect to find

the discharge variability will increase but
the rate of increase will be attenuated
Thank you