Falls in older adults are multifactorial and include cognitive impairment, sensory deficits, medication use, impaired postural control and balance, reduced strength and flexibility, and impaired agility. For older adults with reoccurring falls, medical expenses due to falls can become expensive, highlighting the need for effective fall intervention methods. Agility training and stochastic resonance have both shown promise as effective intervention methods for fall rate reduction. The purpose of this study is to further understand the relationship between between agility, stochastic resonance, and voltional stepping.

The specific aims of this study are to (1) assess the influence of an agility warm-up on motor control during multidirectional stepping tasks performed as fast as possible, and to (2) investigate the impact that stochastic resonance vibration underfoot has on human agility and motor control during multidirectional stepping tasks performed as fast as possible. This study hypothesizes that (1) the agility warm-up will decrease reaction and completion time for multidirectional stepping, (2) stochastic resonance vibration will decrease the completion time for an agility task, and (3) stochastic resonance vibration will decrease reaction and completion time for multidirectional volitional stepping.

Five healthy young adults (age 25.6 ± 1.9 years) performed a series of agility and volitional stepping tasks before and after the administration of stochastic resonance-based vibration. Participants completed the protocol over two separate days for two conditions:​ vibration stimulus and placebo. The 505-agilty task was used for the warm-up and the agility tests. During the volitional stepping tasks, force data was collected using in-ground force plates. Time data was collected during the 505-agility task using timing gates.

Results of this study show promise of utilizing stochastic resonance as an effective method to help improve stepping speed. Stochastic resonance was shown to be equally effective as the agility warm-up in decreasing swing time during the lateral step. Future work is needed to investigate effects of age, athleticism, and vibrational magnitudes for the use of stochastic resonance as an effective fall risk intervention method. Understanding the impact of these connections can help to create cheaper, more accessible, and effective alternative methods of fall intervention for high fall risk older adults.