Age-Related Increase in Electromyography Burst Activity in Males and Females

Table 1

Age-related differences in burst characteristics for each muscle group.

	Young	Old
Number
BB	6200±3112	12935±4142 *
TB	3763±2382	10700±5167 *
VL	4698±2280	8048±3395 *
BF	6030±2504	11676±4391 *
Duration (sec)
BB	0.4±0.1	0.6±0.3 *
TB^†	0.4±0.1	0.6±0.1 *
VL	0.4±0.1	0.6±0.2 *
BF	0.5±0.1	0.6±0.2 *
Peak amplitude (% MVE)
BB	5.0±0.8	6.0±1.7
TB	4.9±0.7	4.8±0.6
VL	8.8±2.0	9.4±4.0
BF	9.3±1.8	9.6±3.8
Mean amplitude (% MVE)
BB	0.6±0.3	1.9±1.1 *
TB	0.6±0.4	1.5±0.8 *
VL	0.8±1.0	1.4±0.9 *
BF	1.2±0.9	2.2±1.4 *
Percentage (% time)
BB	8.3±5.0	26.8±11.8 *
TB	5.4±4.0	19.9±12.5 *
VL	5.6±2.6	16.2±8.0 *
BF	9.3±3.8	24.1±7.3 *

BB: biceps brachii; TB: triceps brachii; VL: vastus lateralis; BF: biceps femoris; sec: seconds; %: percentage; MVE: maximal voluntary exertion.
*Significantly different from young adults.
^†Only females.