Motor Imagery in the Elderly

Year 2024, Volume: 7 Issue: 2, 149 - 155, 31.08.2024

Tolunay Keskin , Nursen Özdemir İlçin

https://doi.org/10.47141/geriatrik.1430369

Abstract

Old age, while being an inevitable part of human life, is defined as a decrease in the ability to adapt to environmental factors. Many negative changes are observed in a person with ageing. These changes turn into an elderly individuals in need of rehabilitation. Although it is difficult to completely stop these age-related problems, the use of motor imagery (MI) in the elderly is promising. Motor imagery training is a learning process in which movements are only imagined internally without being physically performed. It was first used successfully through mental practice to optimise motor function in sport or rehabilitation settings. This application is also utilised in healthy elderly individuals with age-related motor disorders. Functional magnetic resonance imaging studies have revealed that brain regions activated during imagery are similar to brain regions activated during motor action. These regions include the premotor cortex, the supplementary motor area, subcortical structures such as the cerebellum and basal ganglia, and the inferior parietal cortex. In the literature, different dimensions of motor imagery in the elderly have been evaluated and it has been stated that MI ability (vividness, temporal characteristics and accuracy) is generally well preserved for simple movements with ageing. Studies have shown that it may be appropriate to use imagery as a tool to improve motor performance in healthy elderly people. However, the lack of standardisation in both evaluation and treatment and the high heterogeneity in the studies make it difficult to determine the effectiveness of motor imagery.

Keywords

Motor Imagery, Elderly, Rehabilitation

Yaşlılarda Motor İmgeleme

Abstract

Yaşlılık, insan yaşamının kaçınılmaz bir parçası olmakla birlikte çevresel faktörlere karşı uyum sağlayabilme yeteneğindeki azalma olarak tanımlanmaktadır. Yaşlanma ile kişide birçok olumsuz değişiklik görülmektedir. Meydana gelen bu değişiklikler yaşlıları rehabilitasyona ihtiyacı olan birey haline getirmektedir. Yaşla birlikte gelişen bu problemleri tamamen durdurmak zor olsa da birlikte motor imgeleme (MI) uygulamasının yaşlılarda kullanımı umut vericidir. Motor imgeleme eğitimi, hareketlerin fiziksel olarak gerçekleştirilmeden yalnızca içsel olarak hayal edildiği bir öğrenme sürecidir. İlk olarak spor veya rehabilitasyon ortamlarında motor fonksiyonu optimize etmek için zihinsel pratik yoluyla başarıyla kullanılmıştır. Yaşa bağlı motor bozukluklarla karşılaşan sağlıklı yaşlı bireylerde de bu uygulamadan yararlanılmaktadır. İmgeleme sırasında aktive olan beyin bölgelerinin motor eylem sırasında aktive olan beyin bölgeleri ile benzer olduğu yapılan fonksiyonel manyetik rezonans görüntüleme çalışmaları ile ortaya çıkarılmıştır. Bu bölgeler premotor korteksi, tamamlayıcı motor alanını, beyincik ve bazal ganglionlar gibi subkortikal yapıları, alt parietal korteksi içermektedir. Literatürde yaşlılarda motor imgelemenin farklı boyutları değerlendirilmiş ve yaşlanmayla birlikte MI yeteneğinin (canlılığı, zamansal özellikleri ve doğruluğu) basit hareketler için genel olarak iyi korunduğu ifade edilmiştir. Çalışmalar da sağlıklı yaşlı bireylerde motor performansı artırmak için bir araç olarak imgelemenin kullanılmasının uygun olabileceği gösterilmiştir. Ancak hem değerlendirme hem de tedavi konusunda bir standardizasyon bulunmaması ve çalışmalardaki heterojenliğin fazla olması motor imgelemenin etkinliğinin belirlenmesini zorlaştırmaktadır.

Keywords

Motor İmgeleme, Yaşlı, Rehabilitasyon

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