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Published on: June 4, 2020
Spared within-hands but impaired between-hands response preparation in aging
Jos J Adam1, Rolf Jakob, Thamar J H Bovend'Eerdt
1Faculty of Health, Medicine, and Life Sciences, Maastricht University, 6200 MD Maastricht, The Netherlands. jos.adam@maastrichtuniversity.nl
Summary
Older adults show age-related declines in preparing finger responses involving two hands, but not one. This difference in between-hands preparation is robust and impacts cognitive aging theories.
Area of Science:
- Cognitive psychology
- Neuroscience of aging
- Human motor control
Background:
- Older adults can utilize advance information to prepare for upcoming finger responses.
- It remains unclear if aging impacts preparation for responses involving two hands (between-hands) more than one hand (within-hands).
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate how temporal uncertainty affects age-related differences in within-hands versus between-hands finger response preparation.
- To determine if aging differentially affects the ability to prepare responses on one versus two hands.
Main Methods:
- A finger-cuing task was administered to young and older adults.
- Participants performed the task under conditions of temporal certainty (fixed preparation intervals) and temporal uncertainty (randomized intervals).
Main Results:
- Reaction times and error rates indicated age equivalence for within-hands preparation.
- An age-related difference was observed for between-hands preparation, irrespective of temporal uncertainty.
Conclusions:
- A significant structural difference exists in the preparation benefit older adults achieve for two-finger, two-hand responses compared to one-hand responses.
- Findings suggest age-related limitations in complex motor preparation involving multiple limbs.
