University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign

Effects of Tai Chi practice on neural activities and postural control while standing in older adults

Hu, Yang

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HU-DISSERTATION-2022.pdf

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https://hdl.handle.net/2142/115636

Description

Title
Effects of Tai Chi practice on neural activities and postural control while standing in older adults
Author(s)
Hu, Yang
Issue Date
2022-04-19
Director of Research (if dissertation) or Advisor (if thesis)
Hernandez, Manuel E
Doctoral Committee Chair(s)
Hernandez, Manuel E
Committee Member(s)
  • Petruzzello, Steven
  • Hsiao-Wecksler, Elizabeth T
  • Zhu, Weimo
Department of Study
Kinesiology & Community Health
Discipline
Kinesiology
Degree Granting Institution
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Degree Name
Ph.D.
Degree Level
Dissertation
Keyword(s)
  • Aging
  • Postural
  • Cortical Activation
  • Neuroscience
  • Neuromuscular
  • Tai Ji Quan
  • Physical Activity
  • Balance
Abstract
Postural control is defined as the act of maintaining, achieving or restoring a state of balance. Declined postural control is associated with aging and negatively influences older adults’ function and quality of life. Improving postural control can decrease the risk of falling among older adults, and therefore reduce the mortality and serious injury related to falls in older adults. Meanwhile, Tai Chi (TC), known also as Tai Ji Quan, practice has been widely used as a nonpharmacological approach to improve postural control and prevent falls in older adults. While many studies have demonstrated the functional benefits of TC practice, the underlying mechanisms of these improvements are still unclear. Considering that upright postural control and balance require a complex interplay within and between the cortical, sensory, and motor systems, the mechanisms underlying the benefits of TC practice on postural control improvement are very likely to include multiple systems. It was hypothesized that adaptations in neuromuscular function, cortical oscillatory activity, and the interactions between these two aspects might be a potential mechanism underlying the functional improvement in postural control after TC practice. Thus, the overall objective of this dissertation was to investigate the effect of Tai Chi practice on neural activities while standing in older adults and examine its relationship to postural control abilities. First, we investigated the benefit of TC practice on neuromuscular functions in older adults. (Chapter 2) by conducting this systematic review and meta-analysis, improvements in reaction time, reflexes, strength, attention, and coordination were found in older TC practitioners. These results hint that the cortical adaptations very likely presented after TC practice. Second, we investigated the age-related changes on cortical alpha and beta oscillatory activities under standing sensory manipulations and mechanical perturbations. (Chapter 3) A total of 21 subjects (ten young adults and eleven older adults) were included in this study, and we concluded that aging brain compensation theories are also applied to upright postural tasks. Higher cortical areas are increasingly recruited to maintain upright postural, even though cortical resources may be limited. Third, we examined the effect of TC practice on cortical alpha activities with 13 older adults and 13 older TC practitioners. (Chapter 4) TC group demonstrated a less visual reliance and more successful cortical compensation than older adults. Furthermore, TC practice in older adults can alter the Posterior-Anterior Shift in Aging (PASA) cortical recruitment patterns. Lastly, we explored the corticomuscular coupling while sensory and mechanical perturbations challenged balance at the same time. (Chapter 5) Ten young adults were included on top of ten older adults and ten older TC practitioners to identify the directionality of the cortical activity alterations. This study suggests that beta range corticomuscular coupling adaption might be the key mechanism to explain the improved postural stabilities during quiet stance after TC practice. Moreover, older TC practitioners, whose corticomuscular coupling is more similar to young adults, showed soleus-centered cross muscle adaptions. In contrast, older adults demonstrated more isokinetic and voluntary gastrocnemius control strategies in maintaining postural control during quiet stance. As a whole, these project’s findings add to the current literature establishing the adaptations that occurred after TC practice in older adults. While this study was the first to examine the effect of Tai Chi on neural activities and its relationship to postural control ability, no causal relationships can be formed. Thus, it is recommended for future research to examine the effects of a TC intervention program on these measures in older adults. Such findings will elucidate the mechanism underlying the postural control benefits of Tai Chi practice in older adults and guide further decreases in the risk of falls in older adults.
Graduation Semester
2022-05
Type of Resource
Thesis
Handle URL
https://hdl.handle.net/2142/115636
Copyright and License Information
Copyright 2022 Yang Hu

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