# Administrative supplement for Multimodal imaging of brain activity to investigate walking and mobility decline in older adults

> **NIH NIH U01** · UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA · 2023 · $378,650

## Abstract

This abstract describes the aims and measures of parent project in which this administrative supplement is
designed to complete. No additional measures, beyond those that were proposed by the parent project, will be
performed. Parent project description: Current approaches to study the neural control of walking are limited
by either the inability to measure people during walking (functional magnetic resonance imaging, fMRI) or the
inability to measure activity below the cortex (functional near-infrared spectroscopy, fNIRS). We assert that a
full and accurate understanding of the neural control of walking in older adults requires real time measurement
of active regions throughout the brain during actual walking. We will achieve this by using innovative mobile
brain imaging with high-density electroencephalography (EEG). This approach relies upon innovative hardware
and software to deliver three-dimensional localization of active cortical and subcortical brain regions with high
spatial and temporal resolution during walking. The result is unprecedented insight into the neural control of
walking. Here, our overarching objective is to determine the central neural control of mobility in older adults by
collecting EEG during walking and correlating these findings with a comprehensive set of diverse mobility
outcomes (clinic-based walking, complex walking and community mobility measures). Our first aim is to
evaluate the extent to which brain activity during actual walking explains mobility decline. In both cross
sectional and longitudinal designs, we will determine whether poorer walking performance and steeper
trajectories of decline are associated with the Compensation Related Utilization of Neural Circuits Hypothesis
(CRUNCH). CRUNCH is a well-supported model of brain activity patterns that are seen when older individuals
perform tasks of increasing complexity. CRUNCH describes the over-recruitment of frontoparietal brain
networks that older adults exhibit in comparison to young adults, even at low levels of task complexity.
CRUNCH also describes the limited reserve resources available in the older brain. These factors cause older
adults to quickly reach a ceiling in brain resources when performing tasks of increasing complexity. When the
ceiling is reached, performance suffers. The RFA also calls for proposals to “Operationalize and harmonize
imaging protocols and techniques for quantifying dynamic gait and motor functions”. In accordance with this
call, our second aim is to characterize and harmonize high-density EEG during walking with fNIRS (during
actual and imaged walking) and fMRI (during imagined walking). This will allow us to identify the most robust
CRUNCH-related hallmarks of brain activity across neuroimaging modalities, which will strengthen our
conclusions and allow for widespread application of our findings. Our third aim is to study the mechanisms
related to CRUNCH during walking. Thus, our project will address a majority of the obj...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10847550
- **Project number:** 3U01AG061389-05S1
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA
- **Principal Investigator:** David J Clark
- **Activity code:** U01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2023
- **Award amount:** $378,650
- **Award type:** 3
- **Project period:** 2018-09-30 → 2025-05-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10847550

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10847550, Administrative supplement for Multimodal imaging of brain activity to investigate walking and mobility decline in older adults (3U01AG061389-05S1). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-06-14 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10847550. Licensed CC0.

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