What question did this study set out to answer?

To determine whether six months of balance training shifts prefrontal cortex activation toward more efficient patterns and enhances postural control in older and younger adults.

July 2, 2025Neurobiology of AgingOpen Access

Balance training improves postural control and performance-related prefrontal brain activation in healthy older adults: Results of a six-month randomized controlled training intervention

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Authors

NLNico Lehmann YKYves‐Alain Kuhn MKMartín Keller

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Overview

Randomized trial reveals balance training reduces postural sway and prefrontal cortex overactivation in older adults, suggesting neural efficiency gains that may lower fall risk.

Key Points

To determine whether six months of balance training shifts prefrontal cortex activation toward more efficient patterns and enhances postural control in older and younger adults.
Randomized controlled trial involving 63 healthy older adults (aged 65–80 years) and young adults (aged 18–35 years) of both sexes.
Participants were assigned to a 6-month balance training intervention (1 hour twice weekly) or an age-matched, non-training control group, with assessments conducted post-intervention and at 6-month follow-up.
Postural sway during trained and untrained balance tasks was evaluated, and prefrontal cortex activation was recorded using functional near-infrared spectroscopy.
Balance training significantly reduced postural sway in trained and untrained tasks compared to controls in both age groups, with improvements maintained 6 months post-training (multivariate p < 0.003).
Older adults in the training group demonstrated a significantly greater reduction in prefrontal cortex activation post-intervention compared to controls (multivariate p < 0.02), while younger adults showed a non-significant trend (p < 0.06).
Decreased prefrontal cortex activation in older adults significantly correlated both cross-sectionally and longitudinally with improved balance performance.

Cite This Study

Lehmann et al. (2025) studied this question.

synapsesocial.com/papers/69d7c44333ca018b39ae2ae3 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neurobiolaging.2025.07.001

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July 2, 2025Neurobiology of AgingOpen Access

Balance training improves postural control and performance-related prefrontal brain activation in healthy older adults: Results of a six-month randomized controlled training intervention

View Full Paper

Ask AI

Bookmark

Authors

NLNico Lehmann YKYves‐Alain Kuhn MKMartín Keller

Discussion

Member takes

Overview

Randomized trial reveals balance training reduces postural sway and prefrontal cortex overactivation in older adults, suggesting neural efficiency gains that may lower fall risk.

Key Points

To determine whether six months of balance training shifts prefrontal cortex activation toward more efficient patterns and enhances postural control in older and younger adults.
Randomized controlled trial involving 63 healthy older adults (aged 65–80 years) and young adults (aged 18–35 years) of both sexes.
Participants were assigned to a 6-month balance training intervention (1 hour twice weekly) or an age-matched, non-training control group, with assessments conducted post-intervention and at 6-month follow-up.
Postural sway during trained and untrained balance tasks was evaluated, and prefrontal cortex activation was recorded using functional near-infrared spectroscopy.
Balance training significantly reduced postural sway in trained and untrained tasks compared to controls in both age groups, with improvements maintained 6 months post-training (multivariate p < 0.003).
Older adults in the training group demonstrated a significantly greater reduction in prefrontal cortex activation post-intervention compared to controls (multivariate p < 0.02), while younger adults showed a non-significant trend (p < 0.06).
Decreased prefrontal cortex activation in older adults significantly correlated both cross-sectionally and longitudinally with improved balance performance.

Cite This Study

Lehmann et al. (2025) studied this question.

synapsesocial.com/papers/69d7c44333ca018b39ae2ae3 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neurobiolaging.2025.07.001

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