scholarly journals Adaptation of reach action to a novel force-field is not predicted by acuity of dynamic proprioception in either older or younger adults

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nick M. Kitchen ◽  
R. Chris Miall
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Force Field ◽  
Visual Feedback ◽  
Spatial Working Memory ◽  
Age Groups ◽  
Memory Capacity ◽  
Motor Deficits ◽  
Adaptive Performance ◽  
Age Related ◽  
Force Field Adaptation

AbstractHealthy ageing involves degeneration of the neuromuscular system which impacts movement control and proprioception. Yet the relationship between these sensory and motor deficits in upper limb reaching has not been examined in detail. Recently, we reported that age-related proprioceptive deficits were unrelated to accuracy in rapid arm movements, but whether this applied in motor tasks more heavily dependent on proprioceptive feedback was not clear. To address this, we have tested groups of younger and older adults on a force-field adaptation task under either full or limited visual feedback conditions and examined how performance was related to dynamic proprioceptive acuity. Adaptive performance was similar between the age groups, regardless of visual feedback condition, although older adults showed increased after-effects. Physically inactive individuals made larger systematic (but not variable) proprioceptive errors, irrespective of age. However, dynamic proprioceptive acuity was unrelated to adaptation and there was no consistent evidence of proprioceptive recalibration with adaptation to the force-field for any group. Finally, in spite of clear age-dependent loss of spatial working memory capacity, we found no relationship between memory capacity and adaptive performance or proprioceptive acuity. Thus, non-clinical levels of deficit in dynamic proprioception, due to age or physical inactivity, do not affect force-field adaptation, even under conditions of limited visual feedback that might require greater proprioceptive control.

scholarly journals Adaptation of reach action to a novel force-field is not predicted by acuity of dynamic proprioception in either older or younger adults

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nick M. Kitchen ◽  
R Chris Miall
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Force Field ◽  
Visual Feedback ◽  
Spatial Working Memory ◽  
Age Groups ◽  
Memory Capacity ◽  
Motor Deficits ◽  
Adaptive Performance ◽  
Age Related ◽  
Force Field Adaptation

AbstractHealthy ageing involves degeneration of the neuromuscular system which impacts movement control and proprioception. Yet the relationship between these sensory and motor deficits in upper limb reaching has not been examined in detail. Recently, we reported that age-related proprioceptive deficits were unrelated to accuracy in rapid arm movements, but whether this applied in motor tasks more heavily dependent on proprioceptive feedback was not clear. To address this, we have tested groups of younger and older adults on a force-field adaptation task under either full or limited visual feedback conditions and examined how performance related to dynamic proprioceptive acuity. Adaptive performance was similar between the age groups, regardless of visual feedback condition, although older adults showed increased after-effects. Physically inactive individuals made larger systematic (but not variable) proprioceptive errors, irrespective of age. However, dynamic proprioceptive acuity was unrelated to adaptation and there was no consistent evidence of proprioceptive recalibration with adaptation to the force-field for any group. Finally, in spite of clear age-dependent loss of spatial working memory capacity, we found no relationship between memory capacity and adaptive performance or proprioceptive acuity. Thus, non-clinical levels of deficit in dynamic proprioception, due to age or physical inactivity, do not affect force-field adaptation, even under conditions of limited visual feedback that might require greater proprioceptive control.

scholarly journals Sources of Cognitive Conflict and Their Relevance to Theory-of-Mind Proficiency in Healthy Aging: A Preregistered Study

2021 ◽  
pp. 095679762110178
Author(s):  
Foyzul Rahman ◽  
Klaus Kessler ◽  
Ian A. Apperly ◽  
Peter C. Hansen ◽  
Sabrina Javed ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Theory Of Mind ◽  
Healthy Aging ◽  
Spatial Working Memory ◽  
Age Groups ◽  
Response Speed ◽  
Cognitive Conflict ◽  
Mental States ◽  
Age Related ◽  
Outcome Knowledge

Age-related decline in theory of mind (ToM) may be due to waning executive control, which is necessary for resolving conflict when reasoning about other individuals’ mental states. We assessed how older ( n = 50) and younger ( n = 50) adults were affected by three theoretically relevant sources of conflict within ToM: competing self-other perspectives, competing cued locations, and outcome knowledge. We examined which best accounted for age-related difficulty with ToM. Our data show unexpected similarity between age groups when people are representing a belief incongruent with their own. Individual differences in attention and response speed best explained the degree of conflict experienced through incompatible self-other perspectives. However, older adults were disproportionately affected by managing conflict between cued locations. Age and spatial working memory were most relevant for predicting the magnitude of conflict elicited by conflicting cued locations. We suggest that previous studies may have underestimated older adults’ ToM proficiency by including unnecessary conflict in ToM tasks.

The Effect of Practice and Visual Feedback on Oral-Diadochokinetic Rates for Younger and Older Adults

2017 ◽  
Vol 61 (1) ◽  
pp. 113-134 ◽  
Author(s):  
Boaz M. Ben-David ◽  
Michal Icht
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Motor Skills ◽  
Visual Feedback ◽  
Age Groups ◽  
Younger Adults ◽  
Age Related ◽  
Motor Practice ◽  
Visual Degradation ◽  
Diadochokinetic Rates ◽  
Administration Protocol

Assessments of oral-diadochokinetic rates are commonly performed to evaluate oral-motor skills. However, the appropriate administration protocol is not defined, and varies across therapists, clinics and laboratories. In three experiments and an auxiliary one, this study analyzes the effects of brief (motor) practice and visual feedback on the performance of 98 younger (20–40 years old) and 78 older adults (over 65) with the sequential motion rate (SMR) version. Overall rates were significantly faster for younger over older adults. Irrespective of age-group, averaged performance was significantly better on the second round, but the third round was found to be superfluous, across experiments and age-groups. Visual feedback (using a mirror) was found to be detrimental for younger adults, eliminating the advantage reaped from a practice round. For older adults, visual feedback did not alter the effect of a practice round. Sensory (visual) degradation is presented as a possible source for this age-related difference. We discuss these findings and suggest an administration protocol for younger and older adults with the SMR version, including a total of two rounds and no visual feedback.

scholarly journals Age-Related Differences in Reward-Based Modulation of Sequential Reaching Performance

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Poppy Aves ◽  
Laura Moreau ◽  
Ahmad Alghamdi ◽  
Sebastian Sporn ◽  
Joseph M Galea
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Motor Performance ◽  
Movement Time ◽  
Age Groups ◽  
Maximum Velocity ◽  
Muscle Stiffness ◽  
Motor Deficits ◽  
Reaching Task ◽  
Age Related ◽  
Speed And Accuracy

Reward can increase the speed and accuracy of movements in both simple and sequential reaching tasks. Two mechanisms are thought to be responsible for this: an increase in maximum velocity, due to increased muscle stiffness, resulting in faster, but energetically inefficient, individual movements; or coarticulation; the blending of sub-movements into single, smoother, more energetically efficient movements. Older adults have shown reduced sensitivity to reward in decision paradigms, but there is little research relating reward and motor performance in older adults. Using a novel online sequential reaching task, we compared the effects of reward on motor performance between young (18-23 years) and older (65-79 years) participants. We found that movement time decreased across training in all groups, and reward invigorated this decrease in both age groups. This suggests that reward is a viable facilitator of motor performance to compensate for age-related motor decline and has the potential for use in the design of rehabilitation programmes for age-related motor deficits or disease.

scholarly journals Enhancing Spatial Attention and Working Memory in Younger and Older Adults

2017 ◽  
Vol 29 (9) ◽  
pp. 1483-1497 ◽  
Author(s):  
Camarin E. Rolle ◽  
Joaquin A. Anguera ◽  
Sasha N. Skinner ◽  
Bradley Voytek ◽  
Adam Gazzaley
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Working Memory ◽  
Response Time ◽  
Spatial Attention ◽  
Spatial Working Memory ◽  
Age Groups ◽  
Memory Task ◽  
Attention Training ◽  
Age Related ◽  
Custom Made

Daily experiences demand both focused and broad allocation of attention for us to interact efficiently with our complex environments. Many types of attention have shown age-related decline, although there is also evidence that such deficits may be remediated with cognitive training. However, spatial attention abilities have shown inconsistent age-related differences, and the extent of potential enhancement of these abilities remains unknown. Here, we assessed spatial attention in both healthy younger and older adults and trained this ability in both age groups for 5 hr over the course of 2 weeks using a custom-made, computerized mobile training application. We compared training-related gains on a spatial attention assessment and spatial working memory task to age-matched controls who engaged in expectancy-matched, active placebo computerized training. Age-related declines in spatial attention abilities were observed regardless of task difficulty. Spatial attention training led to improved focused and distributed attention abilities as well as improved spatial working memory in both younger and older participants. No such improvements were observed in either of the age-matched control groups. Note that these findings were not a function of improvements in simple response time, as basic motoric function did not change after training. Furthermore, when using change in simple response time as a covariate, all findings remained significant. These results suggest that spatial attention training can lead to enhancements in spatial working memory regardless of age.

Sources of cognitive conflict and their relevance to Theory of Mind proficiency in healthy ageing. A preregistered study.

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Foyzul Rahman ◽  
Sabrina Javed ◽  
Ian Apperly ◽  
Peter Hansen ◽  
Carol Holland ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Theory Of Mind ◽  
Executive Control ◽  
Spatial Working Memory ◽  
Age Groups ◽  
Response Speed ◽  
Cognitive Conflict ◽  
Mental States ◽  
Younger Adults ◽  
Age Related ◽  
Outcome Knowledge

Age-related decline in Theory of Mind (ToM) may be due to waning executive control, which is necessary for resolving conflict when reasoning about others’ mental states. We assessed how older (OA; n=50) versus younger adults (YA; n=50) were affected by three theoretically relevant sources of conflict within ToM: competing Self-Other perspectives; competing cued locations and outcome knowledge. We examined which best accounted for age-related difficulty with ToM. Our data show unexpected similarity between age groups when representing a belief incongruent with one’s own. Individual differences in attention and motor response speed best explained the degree of conflict experienced through conflicting Self-Other perspectives. However, OAs were disproportionately affected by managing conflict between cued locations. Age and spatial working memory were most relevant for predicting the magnitude of conflict elicited by conflicting cued locations. We suggest that previous studies may have underestimated OA’s ToM proficiency by including unnecessary conflict in ToM tasks.

scholarly journals Resting‐State EEG Microstates Parallel Age‐Related Differences in Allocentric Spatial Working Memory Performance

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Adeline Jabès ◽  
Giuliana Klencklen ◽  
Paolo Ruggeri ◽  
Christoph M. Michel ◽  
Pamela Banta Lavenex ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Working Memory ◽  
Resting State ◽  
Cognitive Aging ◽  
Temporal Dynamics ◽  
Spatial Working Memory ◽  
Brain Activity ◽  
Memory Performance ◽  
Brain Regions ◽  
Age Related

AbstractAlterations of resting-state EEG microstates have been associated with various neurological disorders and behavioral states. Interestingly, age-related differences in EEG microstate organization have also been reported, and it has been suggested that resting-state EEG activity may predict cognitive capacities in healthy individuals across the lifespan. In this exploratory study, we performed a microstate analysis of resting-state brain activity and tested allocentric spatial working memory performance in healthy adult individuals: twenty 25–30-year-olds and twenty-five 64–75-year-olds. We found a lower spatial working memory performance in older adults, as well as age-related differences in the five EEG microstate maps A, B, C, C′ and D, but especially in microstate maps C and C′. These two maps have been linked to neuronal activity in the frontal and parietal brain regions which are associated with working memory and attention, cognitive functions that have been shown to be sensitive to aging. Older adults exhibited lower global explained variance and occurrence of maps C and C′. Moreover, although there was a higher probability to transition from any map towards maps C, C′ and D in young and older adults, this probability was lower in older adults. Finally, although age-related differences in resting-state EEG microstates paralleled differences in allocentric spatial working memory performance, we found no evidence that any individual or combination of resting-state EEG microstate parameter(s) could reliably predict individual spatial working memory performance. Whether the temporal dynamics of EEG microstates may be used to assess healthy cognitive aging from resting-state brain activity requires further investigation.

scholarly journals Age affects pigeon memory capacity, but not representation of serial order, during a locomotor sequential-learning task

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christina Meier ◽  
Parisa Sepehri ◽  
Debbie M. Kelly
Keyword(s):  
Cognitive Processing ◽  
Age Groups ◽  
Serial Order ◽  
Memory Capacity ◽  
Learning Task ◽  
Individual Variability ◽  
Sequential Learning ◽  
Choice Test ◽  
Age Related ◽  
Recall Memory

Abstract Aging affects individuals of every species, with sometimes detrimental effects on memory and cognition. The simultaneous-chaining task, a sequential-learning task, requires subjects to select items in a predetermined sequence, putting demands on memory and cognitive processing capacity. It is thus a useful tool to investigate age-related differences in these domains. Pigeons of three age groups (young, adult and aged) completed a locomotor adaptation of the task, learning a list of four items. Training began presenting only the first item; additional items were added, one at a time, once previous items were reliably selected in their correct order. Although memory capacity declined noticeably with age, not all aged pigeons showed impairments compared to younger pigeons, suggesting that inter-individual variability emerged with age. During a subsequent free-recall memory test, when all trained items were presented alongside novel distractor items, most pigeons did not reproduce the trained sequence in the absence of reinforcement. During a further forced-choice test, when pigeons were given a choice between only two of the trained items, all three age groups showed evidence of an understanding of the ordinal relationship between items by choosing the earlier item, indicating that complex cognitive processing, unlike memory capacity, remained unaffected by age.

scholarly journals Negative Effects of Embodiment in a Visuo-Spatial Working Memory Task in Children, Young Adults, and Older Adults

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gianluca Amico ◽  
Sabine Schaefer
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Working Memory ◽  
Young Adults ◽  
Spatial Information ◽  
Spatial Working Memory ◽  
Cognitive Task ◽  
Memory Performance ◽  
Age Groups ◽  
Memory Task ◽  
Negative Effects

Studies examining the effect of embodied cognition have shown that linking one’s body movements to a cognitive task can enhance performance. The current study investigated whether concurrent walking while encoding or recalling spatial information improves working memory performance, and whether 10-year-old children, young adults, or older adults (Mage = 72 years) are affected differently by embodiment. The goal of the Spatial Memory Task was to encode and recall sequences of increasing length by reproducing positions of target fields in the correct order. The nine targets were positioned in a random configuration on a large square carpet (2.5 m × 2.5 m). During encoding and recall, participants either did not move, or they walked into the target fields. In a within-subjects design, all possible combinations of encoding and recall conditions were tested in counterbalanced order. Contrary to our predictions, moving particularly impaired encoding, but also recall. These negative effects were present in all age groups, but older adults’ memory was hampered even more strongly by walking during encoding and recall. Our results indicate that embodiment may not help people to memorize spatial information, but can create a dual-task situation instead.

scholarly journals The Relationship Between Hearing Loss and Cognitive Impairment in a Chinese Elderly Population: The Baseline Analysis

2021 ◽  
Vol 15 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xinxing Fu ◽  
Bo Liu ◽  
Shuo Wang ◽  
Robert H. Eikelboom ◽  
Dona M. P. Jayakody
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Hearing Loss ◽  
Cognitive Impairment ◽  
Health Care Professionals ◽  
Spatial Working Memory ◽  
Depression Anxiety Stress Scale ◽  
Paired Associates ◽  
Multiple Stepwise Regression Analysis ◽  
Age Related ◽  
Age Related Hearing Loss

Objectives: The objective of the study was to investigate the association between untreated age-related hearing loss and cognitive impairment in Mandarin-speaking older adults living in China.Methods: Older adults (293; 111 males, M = 70.33 ± 4.90 years; 182 females, M = 69.02 ± 4.08 years) were recruited. All participants completed a pure tone audiometric hearing assessment, Hearing Impairment-Montreal Cognitive Assessment Test (HI-MoCA), and a computerized neuropsychology test battery (CANTAB). The Mandarin version of the De Jong Gierveld Loneliness Scale was used to measure the loneliness, and the Mandarin version of the 21-item Depression Anxiety Stress Scale (DASS-21) was used to measure the current severity of a range of symptoms common to depression, stress, and anxiety of the participants.Results: A multiple stepwise regression analysis showed that the average of four mid-frequency thresholds in the better ear was related to CANTAB Paired Associates Learning (β = 0.20, p = 0.002), and the global cognitive function score (HI-MoCA) (β = −0.25, p < 0.001). The average of three high frequencies in the better ear was significantly associated with CANTAB Delayed Matching to Sample (β = −0.16, p = 0.008), and Spatial Working Memory (β = 0.17, p = 0.003).Conclusion: The results revealed a significant relationship between age-related hearing loss and cognitive impairment in Mandarin-speaking older adults. These research outcomes have clinical implications specifically for hearing health care professionals in China and other populations that speak a tonal language, especially when providing hearing rehabilitation.

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