scholarly journals Increased upper-limb sensory attenuation with age

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Manasa Parthasharathy ◽  
Dante Mantini ◽  
Jean-Jacques Orban de Xivry
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Upper Limb ◽  
Internal Model ◽  
The Body ◽  
The Self ◽  
Model Function ◽  
Force Matching ◽  
External Agent ◽  
Age Related ◽  
Sensory Attenuation

The pressure of our own finger on the arm feels differently than the same pressure exerted by an external agent: the latter involves just touch, whereas the former involves a combination of touch and predictive output from the internal model of the body. This internal model predicts the movement of our own finger and hence the intensity of the sensation of the finger press is decreased. A decrease in intensity of the self-produced stimulus is called sensory attenuation. It has been reported that, due to decreased proprioception with age and an increased reliance on the prediction of the internal model, sensory attenuation is increased in older adults. In this study, we used a force-matching paradigm to test if sensory attenuation is also present over the arm and if aging increases sensory attenuation. We demonstrated that, while both young and older adults overestimate a self-produced force, older adults overestimate it even more showing an increased sensory attenuation. In addition, we also found that both younger and older adults self-produce higher forces when activating the homologous muscles of the upper limb. While this is traditionally viewed as evidence for an increased reliance on internal model function in older adults because of decreased proprioception, proprioception appeared unimpaired in our older participants. This begs the question of whether an age-related decrease in proprioception is really responsible for the increased sensory attenuation observed in older people.

scholarly journals Increased upper-limb sensory attenuation with age

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Manasa Parthasharathy ◽  
Dante Mantini ◽  
Jean-Jacques Orban de Xivry
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Upper Limb ◽  
Internal Model ◽  
The Body ◽  
The Self ◽  
Model Function ◽  
Force Matching ◽  
External Agent ◽  
Sensory Attenuation ◽  
Somatosensory Function

AbstractThe pressure of our own finger on the arm feels differently than the same pressure exerted by an external agent: the latter involves just touch, whereas the former involves a combination of touch and predictive output from the internal model of the body. This internal model predicts the movement of our own finger and hence the intensity of the sensation of the finger press is decreased. A decrease in intensity of the self-produced stimulus is called sensory attenuation. It has been reported that, due to decreased somatosensation with age and an increased reliance on the prediction of the internal model, sensory attenuation is increased in older adults.In this study, we used a force-matching paradigm to test if sensory attenuation is also present over the arm and if aging increases sensory attenuation. We demonstrated that, while both young and older adults overestimate a self-produced force, older adults overestimate it even more showing an increased sensory attenuation. In addition, we also found that both younger and older adults self-produce higher forces when activating the homologous muscles of the upper limb.While this is traditionally viewed as evidence for an increased reliance on internal model function in older adults because of decreased somatosensory function, somatosensation appeared unimpaired in our older participants. This begs the question of whether the decreased somatosensation is really responsible for the increased sensory attenuation observed in older people.New and NoteworthyForces generated externally (by the environment on the participant) and internally (by the participant on her/his body) are not perceived with the same intensity. Internally-generated forces are perceived less intensely than externally generated ones. This difference in force sensation has been shown to be higher in elderly participants when the forces were applied on the fingers because of their impaired somatosensation. Here we replicated this finding for the arm but suggest that it is unlikely linked to impaired somatosensory function.

scholarly journals Adults learning additional languages in their later years

2020 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 112-124
Author(s):  
David Singleton ◽  
Dorota Záborská
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Foreign Language ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
Language Learners ◽  
The Self ◽  
Older Learners ◽  
Third Age ◽  
Learning Capacity ◽  
Foreign Language Learners ◽  
Age Related

This article will explore the experience—challenges, benefits, and satisfactions— that awaits older adults who embark on the adventure of learning additional languages, either as ‘true’ or ‘false’ beginners, or in some cases as resilient lifelong (foreign language) learners (to be distinguished from polyglots). Drawing on the increasing number of studies focusing on third-age language learning, the article will address the self-doubt afflicting many third-age language learners and the difficulties claimed to be imposed on them by the effects of an age-related decline in language-learning capacity. It will go on to discuss the benefits that are said to accrue for older learners of languages other than their first. Finally, it will address and exemplify from our own data the intense enjoyment which many older adults derive from language learning.

scholarly journals Age-Related Differences in Fixation Pattern on a Companion Robot

Sensors ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 20 (13) ◽  
pp. 3807
Author(s):  
Young Hoon Oh ◽  
Da Young Ju
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Physical Attractiveness ◽  
The Body ◽  
Robot Design ◽  
Body Parts ◽  
Gaze Behavior ◽  
Younger Adults ◽  
The Gaze ◽  
Age Related ◽  
Companion Robots

Recent studies have addressed the various benefits of companion robots and expanded the research scope to their design. However, the viewpoints of older adults have not been deeply investigated. Therefore, this study aimed to examine the distinctive viewpoints of older adults by comparing them with those of younger adults. Thirty-one older and thirty-one younger adults participated in an eye-tracking experiment to investigate their impressions of a bear-like robot mockup. They also completed interviews and surveys to help us understand their viewpoints on the robot design. The gaze behaviors and the impressions of the two groups were significantly different. Older adults focused significantly more on the robot’s face and paid little attention to the rest of the body. In contrast, the younger adults gazed at more body parts and viewed the robot in more detail than the older adults. Furthermore, the older adults rated physical attractiveness and social likeability of the robot significantly higher than the younger adults. The specific gaze behavior of the younger adults was linked to considerable negative feedback on the robot design. Based on these empirical findings, we recommend that impressions of older adults be considered when designing companion robots.

scholarly journals The Psychological Challenge of Late-Life Vision Impairment: Concepts, Findings, and Practical Implications

2013 ◽  
Vol 2013 ◽  
pp. 1-11 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hans-Werner Wahl
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Visually Impaired ◽  
Psychosocial Interventions ◽  
Well Being ◽  
The Body ◽  
Subjective Well Being ◽  
Psychosocial Needs ◽  
Age Related ◽  
Health Community ◽  
Psychological Challenge

The intention is to summarize the body of evidence speaking to the psychological challenges faced by visually impaired older adults, as well as their coping efforts. This evidence is substantiated by a rich set of concepts, theories, and empirical findings that have accumulated under the umbrella of age-related psychoophthalmology (APO). I introduce the field of APO and continue with a discussion of important concepts and theories for a better understanding of adaptational processes in visually impaired older adults. I then summarize the most relevant and most recent data from four areas: (1) everyday competence, (2) cognitive functioning, (3) social functioning, and (4) subjective well-being-related outcomes, depression, and adaptational processes. Thereafter, major insights related to the current state-of-the art psychosocial interventions with visuallyimpaired older adults are reviewed. I close with the need that the public health community should become more aware of and address the psychosocial needs of visually impaired older adults.

scholarly journals A Review of the Effects of Physical Activity and Exercise on Cognitive and Brain Functions in Older Adults

2013 ◽  
Vol 2013 ◽  
pp. 1-8 ◽  
Author(s):  
Louis Bherer ◽  
Kirk I. Erickson ◽  
Teresa Liu-Ambrose
Keyword(s):  
Physical Activity ◽  
Older Adults ◽  
Negative Impact ◽  
The Body ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Healthy Older Adults ◽  
Brain Functions ◽  
Age Related ◽  
Physical Activity And Exercise ◽  
The Mind

Studies supporting the notion that physical activity and exercise can help alleviate the negative impact of age on the body and the mind abound. This literature review provides an overview of important findings in this fast growing research domain. Results from cross-sectional, longitudinal, and intervention studies with healthy older adults, frail patients, and persons suffering from mild cognitive impairment and dementia are reviewed and discussed. Together these finding suggest that physical exercise is a promising nonpharmaceutical intervention to prevent age-related cognitive decline and neurodegenerative diseases.

scholarly journals Vision Impairment: A Psychological Challenge of the Elderly

2021 ◽  
pp. 330-336
Author(s):  
Dr. Vatika Sibal
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Visually Impaired ◽  
Psychosocial Interventions ◽  
Well Being ◽  
The Elderly ◽  
The Body ◽  
Subjective Well Being ◽  
Psychosocial Needs ◽  
Age Related ◽  
Psychological Challenge

Ageing is part of life. With age, the body physically changes and there are psychological challenges are faced by visual impairment. The elderly find it difficult to cope with the changes. The study is substantiated by concepts, theories, and empirical findings that have accumulated under the umbrella of age-related psycho-ophthalmology. The focus is on adaptation theories in visually impaired older adults. One can understand the ageing through everyday competence, cognitive functioning, social functioning, and subjective well-being-related outcomes, depression, and adaptation processes. Thereafter, major insights related to the current state-of-the art psychosocial interventions with visually impaired older adults are reviewed. There is a need of public health community should become more aware of and address the psychosocial needs of visually impaired older adults.

scholarly journals Does somatosensory acuity influence the extent of internal model recalibration in young and older adults?

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Koenraad Vandevoorde ◽  
Jean-Jacques Orban de Xivry
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Sensory Integration ◽  
Prediction Error ◽  
Internal Model ◽  
Sensory Feedback ◽  
Motor Adaptation ◽  
Age Related ◽  
Somatosensory Information ◽  
Implicit Motor ◽  
Sensory Prediction

AbstractThe ability to adjust movements to changes in the environment declines with aging. This age-related decline is caused by the decline of explicit adjustments. However, automatic adjustment of movement, or internal model recalibration, remains intact and might even be increased with aging. Since somatosensory information appears to be required for internal model recalibration, it might well be that an age-related decline in somatosensory acuity is linked to the increase of internal model recalibration. One possible explanation for an increased internal model recalibration is that age-related somatosensory deficits could lead to altered sensory integration with an increased weighting of the visual sensory-prediction error. Another possibility is that reduced somatosensory acuity results in an increased reliance on predicted sensory feedback. Both these explanations led to our preregistered hypothesis: we expect a relation between the decline of somatosensation and the increased internal model recalibration with aging. However, we failed to support this hypothesis. Our results question the existence of reliability-based integration of visual and somatosensory signals during motor adaptation.New & NoteworthyIs somatosensory acuity linked to implicit motor adaptation? The latter is larger in old compared to younger people? In light of reliability-based sensory integration, we hypothesized that this larger implicit adaptation was linked to an age-related lower reliability of somatosensation. Over two experiments and 130 participants, we failed to find any evidence for this. We discuss alternative explanations for the increase in implicit adaptation with age and the validity of our somatosensory assessment.

Self-Reference Effect and Self-Reference Recollection Effect for Trait Adjectives in Amnestic Mild Cognitive Impairment

2018 ◽  
Vol 24 (8) ◽  
pp. 821-832 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nicole Carson ◽  
R. Shayna Rosenbaum ◽  
Morris Moscovitch ◽  
Kelly J. Murphy
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Cognitive Impairment ◽  
Mild Cognitive Impairment ◽  
Amnestic Mild Cognitive Impairment ◽  
The Self ◽  
Age Related ◽  
Amci Group ◽  
Encoding Strategies ◽  
Self Reference ◽  
Trait Adjective

AbstractObjectives: The self-reference effect (SRE), enhanced memory for self-related information, has been studied in healthy young and older adults but has had little investigation in people with age-related memory disorders, such as amnestic mild cognitive impairment (aMCI). Self-referential encoding may help to improve episodic memory in aMCI. Additionally, self-referential processing has been shown to benefit recollection, the vivid re-experiencing of past events, a phenomenon that has been termed the self-reference recollection effect (SRRE; Conway & Dewhurst, 1995). Furthermore, it remains unclear whether the valence of stimuli influences the appearance of the SRE and SRRE. Methods: The current study investigated the SRE and SRRE for trait adjective words in 20 individuals with aMCI and 30 healthy older adult controls. Ninety trait adjective words were allocated to self-reference, semantic, or structural encoding conditions; memory was later tested using a recognition test. Results: While healthy older adults showed a SRE, individuals with aMCI did not benefit from self-referential encoding over and above that of semantic encoding (an effect of “deep encoding”). A similar pattern was apparent for the SRRE; healthy controls showed enhanced recollection for words encoded in the self-reference condition, while the aMCI group did not show specific benefit to recollection for self-referenced over semantically encoded items. No effects of valence were found. Conclusions: These results indicate that while memory for trait adjective words can be improved in aMCI with deep encoding strategies (whether self-reference or semantic), self-referencing does not provide an additional benefit. (JINS, 2018, 24, 821–832)

scholarly journals Using machine learning to investigate the relationship between domains of functioning and functional mobility in older adults

PLoS ONE ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 16 (2) ◽  
pp. e0246397
Author(s):  
Keisuke Hirata ◽  
Makoto Suzuki ◽  
Naoki Iso ◽  
Takuhiro Okabe ◽  
Hiroshi Goto ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Machine Learning ◽  
Older Adults ◽  
Knee Extension ◽  
The Body ◽  
Functional Mobility ◽  
Support Vector ◽  
Timed Up And Go ◽  
Explanatory Variables ◽  
Machine Learning Classification ◽  
Age Related

Previous studies have shown that functional mobility, along with other physical functions, decreases with advanced age. However, it is still unclear which domains of functioning (body structures, body functions, and activities) are most closely related to functional mobility. This study used machine learning classification to predict the rankings of Timed Up and Go tests based on the results of four assessments (soft lean mass, FEV1/FVC, knee extension torque, and one-leg standing time). We tested whether assessment results for each level could predict functional mobility assessments in older adults. Using support vector machines for machine learning classification, we verified that the four assessments of each level could classify functional mobility. Knee extension torque (from the body function domain) was the most closely related assessment. Naturally, the classification accuracy rate increased with a larger number of assessments as explanatory variables. However, knee extension torque remained the highest of all assessments. This extended to all combinations (of 2–3 assessments) that included knee extension torque. This suggests that resistance training may help protect individuals suffering from age-related declines in functional mobility.

scholarly journals A scoping review of age-related health conditions among geriatric populations in sub-Saharan Africa

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Keshena Naidoo ◽  
Jacqueline van Wyk
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Older Adult ◽  
Scoping Review ◽  
The Body ◽  
Health Needs ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
Health Conditions ◽  
Age Related ◽  
Modifiable Factors ◽  
Sub Saharan

Abstract Background Globally people are living longer, resulting in an increased demand for primary care services to be responsive to geriatric health needs. There is however, little information on the nature and prevalence of age-related health conditions among older adults in the sub-Saharan African (SSA) region. This scoping review was undertaken to synthesise evidence on the scope and nature of age-related health needs among people aged 60 years and older in SSA. Methods We systematically searched five electronic databases for studies published prior to 30 June 2019. Using the keywords “Africa”, “older adult” or “geriatric”, and “health”, two independent reviewers used a set of eligibility criteria to extract and screen the abstracts and full-text publications. Particular focus was given to age-dependent disorders in people over 60 years such as dementia, disability and falls Results Sixty-four studies met the inclusion criteria. The review revealed a noticeable absence of studies from the majority of Sub-Saharan African countries. Publications included for review represent twelve countries from this region. The morbidities reported on included dementia, functional impairment, mental health, falls, sarcopenia and nutritional disorders, sensory impairment, frailty and musculoskeletal disorders. Many of these conditions co-existed among older adults, resulting in impaired quality of life and disability. Modifiable factors for geriatric morbidity such as hypertension, depression, cognitive and sensory impairments were under-diagnosed and often untreated. Low awareness and management of these conditions were noted among health providers and communities in SSA region. Conclusions The body of empiric research and evidence on age-related health conditions in geriatric people in SSA remains small. Further research is required on screening and management programs for age-related conditions in people over 60 years in SSA, and health professions training in the care of older adults. Ethics and dissemination : This study did not include human participants. Data was sourced from published literature. Keywords: older adult - geriatric - aged - health - Africa

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