We examined the ability of people 70 to 90 years old to apply global, configural and featural faceprocessing strategies. In addition we investigated age-related changes in the ability to categorize faces at basic, subordinate and individual levels. Using the N170 potential as index of early face processing and the P300 component as index of categorical decision making and effort, we found significant age-related perceptual changes which slowed and somewhat impaired face processing. Specifically, older participants had problems integrating face features into global structures, demonstrating enhanced dependence on distal global information. They did not apply configural computations by default while processing faces which suggests that, unless identification is required, they process faces only at a basic level. These perceptual changes could be the cause for slower and less accurate subordinate categorization, particularly when it is based on details. At the neural levels face processing was not right-lateralized, reflecting excessive involvement of the left hemisphere in perception leading to a more general reduction of inter-hemispheric asymmetry. In addition we found excessive but nonselective activation of frontal regions adding support to the view that executive control and particularly inhibition of irrelevant input are reduced in the elderly.Evidence from human (Bian and Andersen, 2008;Fiorentini, et al., 1996;Habak and Faubert, 2000) and monkey research (e.g. Wang, et al., 2005;Zhang, et al., 2008) indicates that, though not dramatically (e.g. Norman, et al., 2008), the efficiency of visual perception declines with age even in healthy individuals. Within this framework age-associated changes in face recognition have been the focus of many studies using performance (e.g. Bartlett and Fulton, 1991;Boutet and Faubert, 2006;Habak, et al., 2008) as well as EEG (e.g. Pfutze, et al., 2002) and hemodynamic neuroimaging (e.g. Grady, 2002;Grady, et al., 2007) methods. Most of these studies revealed reduced face recognition ability in the elderly (e.g. Lott, et al., 2005;Searcy, et al., 1999), even more so than it is evident for object recognition (Boutet © 2010 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved Address for Correspondence: Shlomo Bentin, PhD Department of Psychology Hebrew University Jerusalem 91905 Israel shlomo.bentin@huji.ac.il Tel xx972 2 5881090 Fax xx972 2 5825659. Publisher's Disclaimer: This is a PDF file of an unedited manuscript that has been accepted for publication. As a service to our customers we are providing this early version of the manuscript. The manuscript will undergo copyediting, typesetting, and review of the resulting proof before it is published in its final citable form. Please note that during the production process errors may be discovered which could affect the content, and all legal disclaimers that apply to the journal pertain.Disclosure Statement We declare no actual or potential conflict of interest including any financial, personal or other relationships with other people or...

Comparisons of ability between skilled performers and novices have been made for activities such as basketball, volleyball, tennis, squash, and badminton, but there is little work on team-handball which is not a well-recognized sport in North America. To examine a variety of perceptual, e.g., anticipation time, reaction time, and motor, e.g., throwing tasks, abilities of skilled and novice female team-handball players 13 First Division (skilled) and 10 recreational (novice) players (M age = 25.3 yr.) performed 2 laboratory activities (for measurement of anticipation time, reaction time and movement time) and 3 field tasks (for measurement of accuracy and speed of throwing abilities) in random order. Reaction time and movement time were collected during a unique team-handball motor activity. Analyses of variance with repeated measures on trial blocks indicated high mean proficiency for the skilled participants in reaction time and all field-throwing tests compared with the novice participants. These reliable differences in team-handball activities further support superiority in sport settings gained by physical achievements and psychomotor excellence. In other words, skilled female team-handball players threw faster and more accurately and responded more rapidly than novice players.

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