Motor Learning and Movement Performance: Older versus Younger Adults

Motor skills play an important role during life span, and older adults need to learn or relearn these skills. The purpose of this study was to investigate how aging affects induction of improved movement performance by motor training.

Serial Reaction Time Test (SRTT) was used to assess movement performance during 8 blocks of motor training. Participants were tested in two separate dates, 48 hours apart. First session included 8 blocks of training (blocks 1-8) and second session comprised 2 blocks (blocks 9, 10).

Analyses of data showed that reaction times in both online and offline learning were significantly shorter in older adults compared to younger adults (P<0.001). Young adults demonstrated both online and offline learning (P<0.001), but older adults only showed online learning (P<0.001) without offline learning (P=0.24).

The result of the current study provides evidence that the healthy older adults are able to improve their performance with practice and learn motor skill successfully in the form of online learning.