Gait in Elderly Japanese

To observe the effects of aging on equilibrium function, a gait test using normal walking with eyes open and closed was conducted with (A) qualitative and quantitative observation by gross observation of free gait for 10 m, (B) recording by a pen oscillograph on a polygraph of 7 phenomena, namely, head movements (upward-downward: U-D, right-left: R-L, and forward-backward: F-B), activities of the bilateral soleus muscles, and bilateral foot-floor contact sequences, and (C) computer analysis: the power spectra and autocorrelations were calculated from the recordings of head move-ments and integrating activities of the bilateral soleus muscles for younger normal subjects and for elderly subjects.Conclusion1. Age-related changes in free gait are caused not only by age-related changes in the skeleto-muscular structure but also by the effects of aging on proprioceptive regulation.2. Certain changes in free gait with eyes closed were more noticeable in the elderly than in the younger group. Some elderly subjects showed no periodicity and no regularity in head movements and activities of the bilateral soleus muscles when walking with eyes closed. However, the rhythm of foot-floor contact with eyes open was generally regular. Age-related changes were not supposed to have any important effect on the central pattern generator of locomotion itself. In the elderly, the role of eyesight was considered more important to stable gait than it was in the younger group.