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Related Experiment Video

Updated: Sep 26, 2025

Author Spotlight: Investigating the Effects of Mind-Body-Movement Practices on Brain Function

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Published on: January 26, 2024

Differential effects of aging on spatial abilities.

Daniela E Aguilar Ramirez¹, Jarrod Blinch², Kate Takeda³

¹Department of Kinesiology and Physical Education, University of Lethbridge, 4401 University Drive, Lethbridge, AB, T1K 3M4, Canada. d.aguilarramirez@uleth.ca.

Experimental Brain Research

|April 16, 2022

Summary

Older adults

Keywords:

Mental rotation Sex differences Spatial cognition Spatial tasks Visual search

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Area of Science:

Cognitive psychology
Neuroscience
Gerontology

Background:

Visuospatial functions are critical for daily living and are vulnerable to aging.
Assessing spatial abilities in older adults is key to maintaining cognitive health and independence.

Observation:

A study compared hands-on spatial tasks with a paper-based mental rotation test in adults aged 60-79.
Tasks involved visual search and mental rotation using real objects and traditional methods.

Findings:

Age negatively impacted visual search but not mental rotation ability.
Males outperformed females in mental rotation, while females showed a trend for better visual search performance.
Hands-on tasks were age-appropriate and feasible, unlike the paper-based test.

Implications:

Spatial abilities are not uniform; age and sex differentially affect sub-domains like visual search and mental rotation.
Hands-on, ecologically valid tasks may be superior for assessing and potentially enhancing spatial function in older populations.