INTRINSIC MOTOR NEURONE EXCITABILITY IS REDUCED IN SOLEUS AND TIBIALIS ANTERIOR OF OLDER ADULTS

Age-related deterioration within both motor neurones and monoaminergic systems should theoretically reduce neuromodulation by weakening motor neuronal persistent inward current (PIC) amplitude. However, this assumption remains untested. Surface electromyographic signals were collected using two 32-channel electrode matrices placed on soleus and tibialis anterior of 25 older adults (70{+/-}4years) and 17 young adults (29{+/-}5 years) to investigate motor unit discharge behaviours. Participants performed triangular-shaped plantar and dorsiflexion contractions to 20% of maximum torque at a rise-decline rate of 2%/s of each participants maximal torque. Pairwise and composite paired-motor unit analyses were adopted to calculate delta frequency ({Delta}F), which has been used to differentiate between the effects of synaptic excitation and intrinsic motor neuronal properties and is assumed to be proportional to PIC amplitude. Soleus and tibialis anterior motor units in older adults had lower {Delta}Fs calculated with either the pairwise [-0.99 and -1.46 pps; -35.4 and - 33.5%, respectively] or composite (-1.18 and -2.28 pps; -32.1 and -45.2%, respectively) methods. Their motor units also had lower peak discharge rates (-2.14 and -2.03 pps; -19.7 and -13.9%, respectively) and recruitment thresholds (-1.50 and -2.06% of maximum, respectively) than young adults. These results demonstrate reduced intrinsic motor neurone excitability during low-force contractions in older adults, likely mediated by decreases in the amplitude of persistent inward currents. Our findings might be explained by deterioration in the motor neurones or monoaminergic systems and could contribute to the decline in motor function during ageing; these assumptions should be explicitly tested in future investigations.