Abstract
Age-related neuromuscular change of Tibialis Anterior (TA) is a leading cause of muscle strength decline among the elderly. This study has established the baseline for age-associated changes in sEMG of TA at different levels of voluntary contraction. We have investigated the use of Gaussianity and maximal power of the power spectral density (PSD) as suitable features to identify age-associated changes in the surface electromyogram (sEMG). Eighteen younger (20–30 years) and 18 older (60–85 years) cohorts completed two trials of isometric dorsiflexion at four different force levels between 10% and 50% of the maximal voluntary contraction. Gaussianity and maximal power of the PSD of sEMG were determined. Results show a significant increase in sEMG's maximal power of the PSD and Gaussianity with increase in force for both cohorts. It was also observed that older cohorts had higher maximal power of the PSD and lower Gaussianity. These age-related differences observed in the PSD and Gaussianity could be due to motor unit remodelling. This can be useful for noninvasive tracking of age-associated neuromuscular changes.
Highlights
Age-associated decline in muscle strength of the Tibialis Anterior (TA) is very significant and has been found to increase the risk of falls [1]
The results show a decrease in Sg with increasing force level, indicating that Surface electromyogram (sEMG) is increasingly Gaussian at higher force levels
Significant differences in the power spectral density (PSD) and Gaussianity of the sEMG recorded from the TA muscle between the younger and older cohorts were observed which shows that age-related changes can be assessed with these features
Summary
Age-associated decline in muscle strength of the Tibialis Anterior (TA) is very significant and has been found to increase the risk of falls [1]. Surface electromyogram (sEMG) is an easy-to-record noninvasive signal of the muscle activity. It is generated by the superposition of the electrical potential induced by the motor unit action potentials (MUAP) in the muscle. Recent studies have demonstrated age-associated changes of the sEMG [4,5,6]. One cause of this can be due to change in the shape of MUAP due to neuropathy [7]. There are a number of factors that can affect sEMG, and it is essential to identify suitable features of the signal to evaluate these changes
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