Grant: Emerging Team Grant: Alliances in Mobility in Aging - LOI

Several clinical and experimental measures have been developed to quantify and characterize the mobility of elders, as well as to assess the mobility of persons with neurological disorders such as Parkinson's disease (PD). However, these evaluation methods must be done with the presence of an observer, and under highly standardized, strict clinical or experimental situations. Finally, optimal performance is generally required of subjects, which is not a parameter of importance for daily motor activities of seniors, given that energy conservation is typically their goal. Accordingly, the motor acts performed under these tests do not provide an accurate representation of everyday life mobility. To understand the changes in mobility that occurs with normal aging, or with disease of the central nervous system, we must quantify, characterize and model movements in the natural environment, e.g., in and around the home. Here, we will record whole-body 3D movement during an extended period of time (hours) with a newly-developed highly portable, light-weight camera-free system that can provide 3D body rendering in the natural environment. We will develop the mathematical means to assess the quantity of movement, characterize and model that movement, identify key features of mobility to improve quantitative assessment of movement, and finally correlate our results with those obtained by clinical scales of mobility. Using the model developed in healthy elderly individuals, we will attempt to predict the changes of mobility with age and disease. One ultimate goal is to better identify barriers to mobility within a person's home and find characteristics to predict "adverse events" (e.g., falls) that may jeopardize the health of elderly individuals or persons suffering from neurological ailments.