Altered activation of the antagonist muscle during practice compromises motor learning in older adults

Aging impairs the activation of muscle; however, it remains unclear whether it contributes to deficits in motor learning in older adults. The purpose of this study was to determine whether altered activation of antagonistic muscles in older adults during practice inhibits their ability to transfer a motor task ipsilaterally. Twenty young (25.1 +/- 3.9 yr; 10 men, 10 women) and twenty older adults (71.5 +/- 4.8 yr; 10 men, 10 women) participated. Half of the subjects practiced 100 trials of a rapid goal-directed task with ankle dorsiflexion and were tested 1 day later with elbow flexion (transfer). The rest did not perform any ankle practice and only performed the task with elbow flexion. The goal-directed task consisted of rapid movement (180 ms) to match a spatiotemporal target. For each limb, we recorded the EMG burst activity of the primary agonist and antagonist muscles. The rate of improvement during task acquisition (practice) was similar for young and older adults (P > 0.3). In contrast, only young adults were able to transfer the task to the upper limb. Specifically, young adults who practiced ankle dorsiflexion exhibited similar to 30% (P < 0.05) lower movement error and similar to 60% (P < 0.05) lower antagonist EMG burst activity compared with older adults who received equal practice and young adults who did not receive any ankle dorsiflexion practice. These results provide novel evidence that the deficient motor learning in older adults may be related to a differential activation of the antagonist muscle, which compromises their ability to acquire the task during practice.