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J Appl Physiol (March 7, 2003). doi:10.1152/japplphysiol.00070.2003
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Submitted on January 24, 2003
Accepted on March 3, 2003

Age effects on force production by the intrinsic and extrinsic hand muscles and finger interaction during maximal contraction tasks

Minoru Shinohara1, Mark L Latash1*, and Vladimir M Zatsiorsky1

1 Department of Kinesiology, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA, USA

* To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: mll11{at}psu.edu.

Finger pressing forces are produced by activation of the intrinsic hand muscles, which are finger specific, and the extrinsic muscles that connect to multiple fingers. We tested a hypothesis on greater weakening of intrinsic hand muscles with age and quantified associated indices of finger interaction such as enslaving (force production by unintended fingers) and force deficit (loss of finger force in multi-finger tasks as compared to single-finger tasks). Twelve young (23 - 35 yr) and twelve elderly (70 - 95 yr) men and women performed single-finger and four-finger maximal pressing tasks, in which force was applied at the proximal phalanges (PP, the intrinsic muscles are major focal force generators) and at the distal phalanges (DP, the extrinsic muscles are focal force generators). The decline in the peak force with age was greater at PP (30%) than at DP (19%). Larger indices of finger interaction were observed at PP (enslaving = 17.2 ± 9.4 %, force deficit = 36.1 ± 11.1 %) as compared to DP (enslaving = 14.9 ± 8.8 %, force deficit = 27.7 ± 10.8 %) across ages and genders. We conclude that intrinsic hand muscles show disproportionate weakening with age. The greater indices of finger interaction seen in PP tests with greater involvement of intrinsic hand muscles suggest that the finger interactions are predominantly of a central origin across ages and genders.




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