Switching between hands in a serial reaction time task: a comparison between young and old adults

Area of Science:

• Neuroscience
• Gerontology
• Motor Control

Background:

• Aging is linked to brain changes impacting cognitive and motor functions.
• Bimanual coordination, crucial for daily activities, often declines with age.
• Understanding age-related motor skill deficits can inform interventions to maintain function.

Purpose of the Study:

• To assess the ability of healthy older adults (OA) to learn and retain a novel bimanual motor skill compared to younger adults (YA).
• To investigate age differences in bimanual serial reaction time task (B-SRTT) performance and learning.
• To explore the impact of hand switching on motor performance in aging.

Main Methods:

• Compared performance of OA (n=26) and YA (n=26) on a B-SRTT over two sessions a week apart.
• Analyzed global response times, sequence-specific learning, and hand switch costs.
• Assessed learning and retention of the bimanual motor skill.

Main Results:

• OA exhibited slower overall response times but demonstrated preserved learning capabilities in the B-SRTT.
• YA showed more pronounced sequence-specific learning than OA.
• Hand switch costs were initially higher in OA but decreased with learning, showing no group difference by the second session.

Conclusions:

• Bimanual motor skill acquisition can mitigate age-related deficits in hand switch costs.
• Learning a novel bimanual task can improve sensorimotor function in older adults.
• Findings suggest potential for interventions to counteract age-related decline in motor control.