As the global population ages, more individuals will face mobility limitations. Researchers supported by NIA are working hard to identify risk factors associated with mobility loss as well as ways to prevent or reverse mobility impairments.
Movement enables us to lead meaningful lives – to communicate with one another, move around freely, care for ourselves, eat, work and play. Nobel Laureate neuroscientist Charles Sherrington once noted: “To move things is all that man can do: whether whispering one syllable or cutting down an entire forest.”
Aging has an adverse impact on our brains, spinal cords, nerves and muscle cells that enable movement. Over time, the human body becomes less accommodating for these vital cells; specifically the motor neurons connecting directly to muscle fibers; they lose richness and quality of function which slows processing speeds as well as strength/speed signals sent directly to muscle cells.
Reduced performance can have a major effect on high-demand activities like walking quickly over distance or performing two tasks at the same time, such as standing up from a chair. With age comes decreased muscle strength and metabolic changes that diminish our energy reserves and make even daily activities increasingly challenging, leading to functional limitations even among individuals who lead full lives and don’t have an identifiable disease diagnosis.