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Aging effects on event and emergent timing in bimanual coordination
Jeffery J Summers1, James Lewis, Hakuei Fujiyama
1Human Motor Control Laboratory, School of Psychology, University of Tasmania, Hobart Campus, Private Bag 30, Hobart 7001, Tasmania, Australia. Jeff.Summers@utas.edu.au
Human Movement Science
|November 26, 2009
Summary
Normal aging affects motor skills differently. Older adults performed equally on automatic continuous circle drawing but showed more errors in complex intermittent circle drawing, indicating age impacts high-level motor control.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Motor Control
- Human Aging
Background:
- Normal aging can lead to declines in specific motor tasks.
- Task-specific aging effects may relate to processing demands: high-level vs. automatic.
- Understanding age-related motor control differences is crucial for maintaining function.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate age-related differences in motor timing.
- To test if aging affects automatic versus high-level motor control differently.
- To compare young and older adults on bimanual circle drawing tasks with varying timing demands.
Main Methods:
- Two bimanual circle drawing tasks were used: continuous (low-level timing) and intermittent (high-level timing).
- Tasks were performed under symmetrical and asymmetrical hand coordination modes.
- Movement frequencies were set at comfortable and fast, individually determined paces.
Main Results:
- Older adults matched young adults' performance in the continuous circle drawing task.
- Older adults exhibited significantly greater temporal variability in the intermittent circle drawing task.
- Performance differences were consistent across coordination modes and movement frequencies.
Conclusions:
- Age-related motor timing deficits are evident in tasks requiring high-level processing.
- Motor tasks relying on automatic, low-level timing processes are less affected by aging.
- Findings support a model where aging impacts cognitive-motor control rather than basic motor execution.
