**1. Introduction**

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Aging is characterized by changes in the neuromuscular system that decrease muscle strength, balance, proprioception and reaction time (Bassey, 1997). Aging may be accompanied by adjustments in muscle activation such as a decrease in voluntary activation and alterations in the rate of agonist/antagonist coactivation (Häkkinen et al., 1998). This progressive decline in physical capacities reduces the ability of older adults to perform complex motor tasks and is associated with impaired mobility and a reduction in the ability to live independently (Meuleman et al., 2000).

Assessment of muscle activation by electromyography (EMG) provides important information about age-related neuromuscular adjustments (Schmitz, et. al., 2009). EMG contributes to the identification of factors that generate impairments to the performance of daily activities and an increase in the risk of falls for older adults. Additionally, identifying age-related abnormal muscle activation may be helpful in preventing mobility impairments.

The aim of this chapter is to provide a global understanding of the EMG parameters used to identify age-related neuromuscular fatigability alterations. Towards this end, issues that affect EMG results in older adults will be presented, such as weakness and muscle activation abnormalities, muscle activation and fatigability, performance in daily activi‐ ties, postural control changes, and the effects of physical activity on the neuromuscular system.

© 2013 Cardozo et al.; licensee InTech. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. © 2013 Cardozo et al.; licensee InTech. This is a paper distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
