Project description
Training for increased fall risk
As we age, the loss of physical ability and balance control becomes a pressing concern, especially in preventing falls among older individuals. Stair negotiation, a daily activity, often pushes them to their functional limits. With the support of the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions programme, the ABACUSS project takes a groundbreaking approach to address this issue. Through the combined use of body-worn inertial measurement units, electroencephalograms, and electromyography, researchers aim to detect age-related and training-induced changes in balance control in individuals aged 65 and above. The project will assess improvements resulting from a 12-week home-based stair climbing exercise programme, and investigate the role of cortical involvement using analyses of cortico-synergy coherence. These findings promise a better understanding of age-related adaptations, neuromuscular organisation, and cortical involvement.
Objective
Age-related loss of physical ability and balance control are important predictors for falls in older people. Activities of daily life, such as stair negotiation, are challenging as they require older people to operate close to their functional limits. This makes stair negotiation performance a good candidate to detect early-onset deterioration before a fall occurs, as well as a good task-specific exercise modality. To investigate these assumptions, I will first assess the sensitivity of linear and non-linear analyses of data from body-worn inertial measurement units (IMUs) to detect age-related and training-induced changes in balance control of older people (65+ years). These findings will then be applied to assess improvements of balance control and the underlying changes in neuromuscular organisation following a 1-year home-based stair climbing exercise program in older people. Finally, I aim to elucidate the role of cortical involvement in neuromuscular organisation during stair negotiation in older people using electroencephalograms and analyses of muscle synergies obtain from electromyographic signals of the lower limb muscles. This will allow me to assess the level of cortico-synergy coherence and the plastic changes associated with training-induced adaptations in kinematic profiles during stair negotiation. The findings from this project will contribute to a better understanding of age-related and training-induced adaptations in balance control, neuromuscular organisation, and the role of cortical involvement in task-specific adaptations. In addition, the assessments of sensitivity of current and novel analyses of inertial data will help to improve detection of early-onset deterioration of balance performance to better target training interventions at individuals with increased fall risk.
Keywords
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Programme(s)
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
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HORIZON.1.2 - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA)
MAIN PROGRAMME
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Topic(s)
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Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Funding Scheme
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
HORIZON-TMA-MSCA-PF-GF - HORIZON TMA MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowships - Global Fellowships
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Call for proposal
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Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
(opens in new window) HORIZON-MSCA-2022-PF-01
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1081 HV Amsterdam
Netherlands
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