Vision, kinesthesis, and control of hand movement by young and old adults

This study examined the accuracy with which 20 young (18 to 24 yr.) and 32 old (55 to 85 yr.) adults were able to move their hands when not allowed to guide them visually. They tried to touch a target spot given either visually or kinesthetically, under conditions in which the target either remained present during the response or was discontinued prior to the response. They also tried to touch points on the face with eyes closed and wrote their names and common words with and without visual input. While there was slight evidence of age-related decline in accuracy of moving the hand to a target location in some conditions, older adults appear to use kinesthetic cues to the target location as effectively as visual cues. The absence of age effects on touching the face or writing with the eyes closed suggests that the kinesthetic and motor control systems are relatively well preserved in healthy older adults.