Arithmetic Stroop Interference as a Function of Age: Maintenance and Modification of Automatic Processes

1989 ◽  
Vol 33 (3) ◽  
pp. 169-173 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wendy A. Rogers ◽  
Arthur D. Fisk
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Young Adults ◽  
Stroop Interference ◽  
Automatic Process ◽  
Practical Training ◽  
Automatic Processes ◽  
Arithmetical Operation ◽  
Old Adults ◽  
Multiplication Tables ◽  
Young Subjects

This experiment investigated whether well-learned “automatic” processes remain stable as a function of age, as well as whether the ability to modify automatic processes is disrupted for older adults. We used an arithmetic “Stroop” task. Nineteen young (mean 22) and 19 old adults (mean 75) participated in three sessions for a total of 450 trials. The young subjects had faster verification times, overall, than the old adults. Both young and old subjects showed significant Stroop interference. These results support the hypothesis that automatic processes, in this case access of addition and multiplication tables, are maintained for old adults. Furthermore, both groups reduced their RT with practice. For the young adults, there was a decrease in interference with practice suggesting that they were learning to inhibit the automatic process of performing the arithmetical operation. However, the old adults showed no significant decrease in interference, which implies that they were impaired in their ability to inhibit automatic processes, even when those processes interfered with performance. Theoretical and practical training implications are discussed.

Memory Skill Acquisition for Young and Old Adults: Does Training Order Affect Learning?

1994 ◽  
Vol 38 (2) ◽  
pp. 155-159 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jennifer L. Clark ◽  
Wendy A. Rogers
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Young Adults ◽  
Skill Acquisition ◽  
Search Task ◽  
Memory Search ◽  
Old Adults ◽  
Older Subjects ◽  
Memory Skill ◽  
Order Of Training ◽  
Strategy I

The purpose of the present experiment was to identify the effects of altering the order of training for a memory search task in old and young adults. We provided subjects with extensive practice on consistently mapped (CM) and variably mapped (VM) versions of a memory search task. Half of the subjects in each age group received CM training followed by VM training and the other half received VM first followed by CM. Based on previous findings (Fisk, Rogers, and Giambra, 1990), in which older adults did not switch to a more efficient search strategy (i. e., from serial exhaustive to serial self-terminating) we predicted that older subjects who received VM training first would not adopt the most efficient strategy on subsequent CM training compared to old adults who received the CM training first. The results supported our prediction: namely, the comparison slopes were shallower (i. e., more efficient) for the older adults who received CM training first, relative to those who received VM training prior to the CM training. Order of practice did not significantly affect the performance of the young adults. These data have important implications for the development of training programs in which subjects will be required to learn several task components.

scholarly journals 95 Accuracy of Off the Shelf Activity Trackers in Ambulatory Settings in Young and Old Adults

2019 ◽  
Vol 48 (Supplement_3) ◽  
pp. iii1-iii16
Author(s):  
John Barton ◽  
Suzanne Timmons ◽  
Salvatore Tedesco ◽  
Marco Sica ◽  
Colum Crowe ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Young Adults ◽  
Video Recording ◽  
Real Life ◽  
Poor Performance ◽  
Percentage Error ◽  
Old Adults ◽  
Activity Trackers ◽  
Household Activities ◽  
Gold Standards

Abstract Background Wrist-worn activity trackers have experienced a tremendous growth lately. Robust studies of the comparative accuracy of currently available, mainstream trackers, in young adults versus older adults are still scarce in literature. This study explores the performance of ten trackers estimating steps, travelled distance, and heart-rate measurements against gold-standards in two cohorts of young and old adults. Methods Overall, 38 subjects completed a structured protocol involving walking tasks, simulated household activities, and sedentary activities, including less standardised activities, such as dusting, vacuuming, or playing cards, in order to simulate real-life scenarios. Both wrist-mounted and chest/waist-mounted devices were considered. Gold-standards included treadmill, waist-mounted pedometer, ECG-based chest strap, direct observation or video recording according to the activity and parameter. Results Every tracker shows a decreasing accuracy with slower walking speed, which resulted in a significant step under-counting. Large mean absolute percentage error (MAPE) was displayed by every monitor at slower walking speeds. During household activities, the MAPE in young adults climbing up/down-stairs ranged from 3.91-11.41% and 4.34-11.92% (dominant and non-dominant arm), respectively. However, for the same activities older adults displayed a larger MAPE, at 8.38-19.3% and 10.06-19.01%, respectively. Chest-worn or waist-worn devices had more uniform performance. However, unstructured activities (dusting, vacuuming, playing cards), and accuracy in people using a walking aid represent a challenge for all consumer-level trackers as evidenced by large MAPE. Poor performance in travelled distance estimation was also evident during walking at low speeds and household activities for both cohorts. Conclusion This study shows a number of limitations to current, mainstream consumer-level wrist-based activity trackers, requiring caution if adopted in healthcare, whether clinical or research. This study demonstrates the particular deficits in commercial devices for use in an aging population, and provides some indications on how to best measure these health parameters in this population.

Aging and Retention of Newly Acquired Skill: Does Performance Predict Retention of Underlying Learning?

1997 ◽  
Vol 41 (1) ◽  
pp. 110-114
Author(s):  
Peter J. Batsakes ◽  
Arthur D. Fisk
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Young Adults ◽  
Retention Interval ◽  
Process Development ◽  
Semantic Category ◽  
Automatic Process ◽  
Retention Performance ◽  
Transfer Session ◽  
Skilled Performance ◽  
Age Related

In this study, we evaluated age-related decay characteristics of the learning supporting skilled performance. We directly assessed the retention of performance and learning associated with skilled visual search. Ninety older (63 to 79 yrs.) and 90 younger (19 to 25 yrs.) adults received 6300 trials of consistent semantic category search. A transfer session assessed automatic process development. After either 2, 4, or 8 weeks participants returned for retention testing. At retention we evaluated trained performance, learning associated with strength of attention training (AARs), and optimal feature search. For young adults, the AAR declined but remained strong even after eight weeks of disuse. Older adults exhibited minimal automatic activation strength before and (not surprising) after the retention interval. However, when retention performance not supported by AARs was examined (learning due to the development of optimal search) age-related effects were minimized. Contrary to other learning domains, older adults' retention performance was less affected than young adults' by the interfering processing activity performed prior to the retention interval. Issues of instructional and system design are discussed as mechanisms to promote age-dependent retention of skilled performance.

Corticomotor plasticity and learning of a ballistic thumb training task are diminished in older adults

2009 ◽  
Vol 107 (6) ◽  
pp. 1874-1883 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nigel C. Rogasch ◽  
Tamara J. Dartnall ◽  
John Cirillo ◽  
Michael A. Nordstrom ◽  
John G. Semmler
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Primary Motor Cortex ◽  
Motor Evoked Potentials ◽  
Short Interval ◽  
Intracortical Inhibition ◽  
Training Task ◽  
Abductor Pollicis Brevis ◽  
Corticomotor Excitability ◽  
Old Adults ◽  
Young Subjects

This study examined changes in corticomotor excitability and plasticity after a thumb abduction training task in young and old adults. Electromyographic (EMG) recordings were obtained from right abductor pollicis brevis (APB, target muscle) and abductor digiti minimi (ADM, control muscle) in 14 young (18–24 yr) and 14 old (61–82 yr) adults. The training task consisted of 300 ballistic abductions of the right thumb to maximize peak thumb abduction acceleration (TAAcc). Transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) of the left primary motor cortex was used to assess changes in APB and ADM motor evoked potentials (MEPs) and short-interval intracortical inhibition (SICI) before, immediately after, and 30 min after training. No differences in corticomotor excitability (resting and active TMS thresholds, MEP input-output curves) or SICI were observed in young and old adults before training. Motor training resulted in improvements in peak TAAcc in young (177% improvement, P < 0.001) and old (124%, P = 0.005) subjects, with greater improvements in young subjects ( P = 0.002). Different thumb kinematics were observed during task performance, with increases in APB EMG related to improvements in peak TAAcc in young ( r2 = 0.46, P = 0.008) but not old ( r2 = 0.09, P = 0.3) adults. After training, APB MEPs were 50% larger ( P < 0.001 compared with before) in young subjects, with no change after training in old subjects ( P = 0.49), suggesting reduced use-dependent corticomotor plasticity with advancing age. These changes were specific to APB, because no training-related change in MEP amplitude was observed in ADM. No significant association was observed between change in APB MEP and improvement in TAAcc with training in individual young and old subjects. SICI remained unchanged after training in both groups, suggesting that it was not responsible for the diminished use-dependent corticomotor plasticity for this task in older adults.

scholarly journals Motor-Unit Coherence During Isometric Contractions Is Greater in a Hand Muscle of Older Adults

2003 ◽  
Vol 90 (2) ◽  
pp. 1346-1349 ◽  
Author(s):  
John G. Semmler ◽  
Kurt W. Kornatz ◽  
Roger M. Enoka
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Motor Unit ◽  
Motor Neurons ◽  
Common Input ◽  
Low Frequencies ◽  
Old Adults ◽  
Age Related ◽  
Motor Unit Synchronization ◽  
Young Subjects ◽  
Using Data

The purpose of this study was to quantify the strength of motor-unit coherence from the first dorsal interosseus muscle in young and old adults using data obtained in a previous study, where no differences in motor-unit synchronization between the two groups were observed. The strength of motor-unit coherence was quantified from 47 motor-unit pairs in 11 young adults (age 24.1 ± 4.1 yrs) and from 48 motor-unit pairs in 14 old adults (age 70.4 ± 5.9 yrs). The strength of motor-unit coherence was greater in old adults, particularly at low frequencies of 5–9 Hz (85% greater in old adults at 5 Hz). In addition, the older adults expressed an extra oscillation at approximately 12–13 Hz that was not present in the young subjects. These data demonstrate that common oscillatory inputs to motor neurons (motor-unit coherence) are enhanced in older adults despite no age-related difference in the strength of shared inputs (synchronization). Furthermore, the data emphasize that measures of motor-unit synchronization and coherence highlight different features of the same common input, and a coherence analysis may be a more sensitive tool to characterize shared input to motor neurons.

scholarly journals Visuo-proprioceptive control of the hand in older adults

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hannah J. Block ◽  
Brandon M. Sexton
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Young Adults ◽  
Multisensory Processing ◽  
Hand Movement ◽  
Minimum Variance ◽  
Position Sense ◽  
Healthy Older Adults ◽  
Visual Component ◽  
Older Subjects ◽  
Young Subjects

AbstractTo control hand movement, we have both vision and proprioception, or position sense. The brain is known to integrate these to reduce variance. Here we ask whether older adults integrate vision and proprioception in a way that minimizes variance as young adults do, and whether older subjects compensate for an imposed visuo-proprioceptive mismatch as young adults do. Ten healthy older adults (mean age 69) and 10 healthy younger adults (mean age 19) participated. Subjects were asked to estimate the position of visual, proprioceptive, and combined targets, with no direct vision of either hand. After a veridical baseline block, a spatial visuo-proprioceptive misalignment was gradually imposed by shifting the visual component forward from the proprioceptive component without the subject’s awareness. Older subjects were more variable than young subjects at estimating both visual and proprioceptive target positions (F1,18 = 6.14, p = 0.023). Older subjects tended to rely more heavily on vision than proprioception compared to younger subjects. However, the weighting of vision vs. proprioception was correlated with minimum variance predictions for both older (r = 0.71, p = 0.021) and younger (r = 0.81, p = 0.0047) adults, suggesting that variance-minimizing mechanisms are present to some degree in older adults. Visual and proprioceptive realignment were similar for young and older subjects in the misalignment block, suggesting older subjects are able to realign as much as young subjects. These results suggest that intact multisensory processing in older adults should be explored as a potential means of mitigating degradation in individual sensory systems.

scholarly journals Visuo-Proprioceptive Control of the Hand in Older Adults

2020 ◽  
Vol 34 (1) ◽  
pp. 93-111
Author(s):  
Hannah J. Block ◽  
Brandon M. Sexton
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Young Adults ◽  
Multisensory Processing ◽  
Hand Movement ◽  
Minimum Variance ◽  
Position Sense ◽  
Younger Adults ◽  
Visual Component ◽  
Older Subjects ◽  
Young Subjects

Abstract To control hand movement, we have both vision and proprioception, or position sense. The brain is known to integrate these to reduce variance. Here we ask whether older adults integrate vision and proprioception in a way that minimizes variance as young adults do, and whether older subjects compensate for an imposed visuo-proprioceptive mismatch as young adults do. Ten healthy older adults (mean age 69) and 10 healthy younger adults (mean age 19) participated. Subjects were asked to estimate the position of visual, proprioceptive, and combined targets, with no direct vision of either hand. After a veridical baseline block, a spatial visuo-proprioceptive misalignment was gradually imposed by shifting the visual component forward from the proprioceptive component without the subject’s awareness. Older subjects were more variable than young subjects at estimating both visual and proprioceptive target positions. Older subjects tended to rely more heavily on vision than proprioception compared to younger subjects. However, the weighting of vision vs. proprioception was correlated with minimum variance predictions for both older and younger adults, suggesting that variance-minimizing mechanisms are present to some degree in older adults. Visual and proprioceptive realignment were similar for young and older subjects in the misalignment block, suggesting older subjects are able to realign as much as young subjects. These results suggest that intact multisensory processing in older adults should be explored as a potential means of mitigating degradation in individual sensory systems.

scholarly journals Discharge Characteristics of Biceps Brachii Motor Units at Recruitment When Older Adults Sustained an Isometric Contraction

2011 ◽  
Vol 105 (2) ◽  
pp. 571-581 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael A. Pascoe ◽  
Matthew R. Holmes ◽  
Roger M. Enoka
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Young Adults ◽  
Isometric Contraction ◽  
Biceps Brachii ◽  
Motor Units ◽  
Discharge Characteristics ◽  
Recruitment Threshold ◽  
Old Adults ◽  
Threshold Force ◽  
Target Force

The purpose of this study was to compare the discharge characteristics of motor units recruited during an isometric contraction that was sustained with the elbow flexor muscles by older adults at target forces that were less than the recruitment threshold force of each isolated motor unit. The discharge times of 27 single motor units were recorded from the biceps brachii in 11 old adults (78.8 ± 5.9 yr). The target force was set at either a relatively small (6.6 ± 3.7% maximum) or large (11.4 ± 4.5% maximum) difference below the recruitment threshold force and the contraction was sustained until the motor unit was recruited and discharged action potentials for about 60 s. The time to recruitment was longer for the large target-force difference ( P = 0.001). At recruitment, the motor units discharged repetitively for both target-force differences, which contrasts with data from young adults when motor units discharged intermittently at recruitment for the large difference between recruitment threshold force and target force. The coefficient of variation (CV) for the first five interspike intervals (ISIs) increased from the small (18.7 ± 7.9) to large difference (35.0 ± 10.2%, P = 0.008) for the young adults, but did not differ for the two target force differences for the old adults (26.3 ± 14.7 to 24.0 ± 13.1%, P = 0.610). When analyzed across the discharge duration, the average CV for the ISI decreased similarly for the two target-force differences ( P = 0.618) in old adults. These findings contrast with those of young adults and indicate that the integration of synaptic input during sustained contractions differs between young and old adults.

Assessing Articulatory Speed Performance as a Potential Factor of Slowed Speech in Older Adults

2014 ◽  
Vol 57 (2) ◽  
pp. 347-360 ◽  
Author(s):  
Antje S. Mefferd ◽  
Erin E. Corder
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Young Adults ◽  
Speaking Rate ◽  
Middle Aged ◽  
Lower Lip ◽  
Old Adults ◽  
3 Dimensional ◽  
Speed Performance ◽  
Middle Aged Adults ◽  
Peak Speed

Purpose To improve our understanding about the underlying factors of aging-related speaking rate decline, the authors sought to determine if lip and jaw speeds are physiologically constrained in older adults. Method Thirty-six females—10 young adults (ages 22–27 years), 9 middle-aged adults (ages 45–55 years), 10 young-old adults (65–74 years), and 7 very old adults (ages 87–95 years)—completed metronome-paced syllable repetitions while moving the lower lip or jaw to a fixed target with each repetition. Metronome paces incrementally increased from 1.4 Hz to 6.7 Hz. Lip and jaw movements were tracked using a 3-dimensional motion capture system. Results Older adults' maximum percent increase in lip and jaw peak speed was comparable to or tended to be even greater than that of middle-aged and young adults. By contrast, lip and jaw stiffness, indexed by peak speed–displacement ratios, tended to decrease with age during fast and very fast repetition rates and were associated with mildly prolonged movement durations. Conclusions The findings suggest that lip and jaw speeds are not constrained in older adults. The trend of reduced stiffness during fast rates, however, suggests that fine-force regulation becomes difficult for older adults. Thus, older adults may implement reduced habitual speaking rates as a behavioral strategy to compensate for diminished articulatory control.

scholarly journals Age Differences in the Control of Looking Behavior: Do You Know Where Your Eyes Have Been?

2000 ◽  
Vol 11 (3) ◽  
pp. 210-217 ◽  
Author(s):  
Arthur F. Kramer ◽  
Sowon Hahn ◽  
David E. Irwin ◽  
Jan Theeuwes
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Young Adults ◽  
Visual Search ◽  
Eye Movements ◽  
Inhibitory Control ◽  
Age Differences ◽  
Oculomotor Capture ◽  
Old Adults ◽  
Task Irrelevant

Previous research has shown that during visual search young and old adults' eye movements are equivalently influenced by the appearance of task-irrelevant abrupt onsets. The finding of age-equivalent oculomotor capture is quite surprising in light of the abundant research suggesting that older adults exhibit poorer inhibitory control than young adults on a variety of different tasks. In the present study, we examined the hypothesis that oculomotor capture is age invariant when subjects' awareness of the appearance of task-irrelevant onsets is low, but that older adults will have more difficulty than young adults in inhibiting reflexive eye movements to task-irrelevant onsets when awareness of these objects is high. Our results were consistent with the level-of-awareness hypothesis. Young and old adults showed equivalent patterns of oculomotor capture with equiluminant onsets, but older adults misdirected their eyes to bright onsets more often than young adults did.

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