Frailty, an age-related decline in multiple physiological systems, increases risks to adverse health outcomes and mortality and is characterized by accelerated processes also seen in non...Show moreFrailty, an age-related decline in multiple physiological systems, increases risks to adverse health outcomes and mortality and is characterized by accelerated processes also seen in non-pathological ageing. According to neuroscientific models, a loss of sensorimotor stimulation due to degraded sensory input, and central processing deficits result in the development of maladaptive plasticity. To stop or reverse the underlying correlates of maladaptive plasticity, a tablet-based at-home sensorimotor training was administered to 48 frail German older adults. Pre-intervention, severity of frailty was assessed using the frailty phenotype framework as well as the Deficit Accumulation model. A reduced number of participants also had an MRI (n = 22) and fMRI (n = 18) scan done to assess regional gray matter volume and intra-network functional connectivity, respectively. Following randomization, the experimental group (n = 24) trained on unimodal and bimodal sensory discrimination tasks in the visual, auditory, and tactile domain. The control group (n = 24) engaged in an app-based relaxation training. After 60 days of training, both groups were reassessed on the above parameters. Results indicated that the sensorimotor intervention had a tendency towards an effect on frailty as assessed using the frailty phenotype model (p = .058). Furthermore, in the experimental group, gray matter volume decline in the precentral gyrus halted compared to the control condition (p = .007). As such, this result provides preliminary evidence that a neuroplasticity-oriented approach to targeting frailty could be of merit. This thesis underlines the importance of using longitudinal data to establish causality in the research on frailty and signposts the need to assess relationships between brain and frailty as an entity in its whole, beyond its subcomponents.Show less
