A team from the University of Michigan has discovered that at least in the roundworm C. elegans, the neurons controlling muscles enter age-related decline before the muscles themselves do. One of the hallmarks of aging is that oldtimers, on the average, move less frequently and with less agility than youngsters – a change that puts the aged at risk of falls, among other things. One theory has been that this is due mainly to muscles not working as well as they did earlier in life.