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Learning of bimanual motor sequences in normal aging
Rashmi Bhakuni1, Pratik K Mutha2
1Department of Biological Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Gandhinagar Ahmedabad, Gujarat, India.
Frontiers in Aging Neuroscience
|May 26, 2015
Summary
Older adults can learn new motor skills as effectively as younger individuals, showing intact procedural learning despite age-related motor declines. This research explores motor control and aging.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Gerontology
- Motor Control
Background:
- Motor performance typically declines with age.
- However, the capacity for learning simple procedural motor tasks may be preserved in normal aging.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the impact of aging on acquiring simple bimanual motor sequences.
- To determine if learning involves improved response time and/or hand coordination.
Main Methods:
- Healthy young and older adults completed a bimanual serial reaction time task.
- Performance was assessed based on response time and coordination metrics.
Main Results:
- Older adults demonstrated no learning deficit, learning as effectively as younger participants.
- Learning was associated with decreased response time in both groups.
- Surprisingly, older adults exhibited lower overall switch costs than younger adults.
Conclusions:
- Normal aging preserves the ability to learn simple bimanual motor sequences.
- Age-related differences in switch costs may relate to interhemispheric inhibition and cortical activation patterns.
