Contralateral thalamocortical connectivity is related to postural control in the uninvolved limb of older adults with history of ankle sprain

Background: Sensorimotor brain connectivity is often overlooked when determining relationships between postural control and motor performance following musculoskeletal injury. Thalamocortical brain connectivity is of particular interest as it represents the temporal synchrony of functionally and anatomically linked brain regions. Importantly, adults over the age of 60 are especially vulnerable to musculoskeletal injury due to age-related declines in postural control and brain connectivity. Research question: Is there a relationship between thalamocortical connectivity and static postural control in older adults with a history of LAS? Methods: Data were analyzed from twenty older adults (mean age = 67.0 ± 4.3 yrs; 13 females) with a history of LAS. The sensorimotor network (SMN) was identified from resting-state MRI data, and a priori thalamic and postcentral gyri regions of interest were selected in order to determine left and right hemisphere thalamocortical connectivity. Balance was assessed for the involved and non-involved limbs via center of pressure velocity (COPV) in the medial-lateral (ML) and anterior-posterior (AP) directions. Results: Contralateral thalamocortical connectivity was significantly associated with COPV_ML COPV_ML (r = −0.474, P = 0.05) and COPV_AP (r = −0.622, P = 0.008) in the non-involved limb. No significant association was observed between involved limb balance and contralateral thalamocortical connectivity (COPV_ML: r = −0.08, P = 0.77; COPV_AP: r = 0.12, P = 0.63). Significance: A significant relationship between thalamocortical connectivity and static postural control was observed in the non-involved, but not the involved limb in older adults with a history of LAS. Findings suggest that thalamocortical connectivity may lead to or be the product of LAS.