A novel approach to enhancing limb control in older adults

Abstract

Two recent experiments have demonstrated that young adult participants were able to make faster and more harmonic movements in a typical reciprocal Fitts task (ID = 6) following a practice session of sine wave tracking (Boyle et al. in Exp Brain Res 223:377-387, 2012; J Mot Behav 46:277-285, 2014). The purpose of the present experiment was to replicate these findings with a young adult population (age 18-25) and determine whether sine wave tracking also enhances goal-directed limb movements in an older adult population (age 65-90). To establish a performance baseline, all participants were first pretested on a typical ID = 6 Fitts task. Participants in each age group were then randomly assigned to one of the two training conditions where they practiced (45 trials) on a typical Fitts task (ID = 6) or they were asked to track a sine wave template (45 trials). Following practice, all participants were then posttested under the ID = 6 Fitts conditions. The results demonstrated that both young and older adult participants that practiced under the sine wave conditions enhanced their Fitts task performance compared to participants in their respective age groups who practiced under the Fitts conditions. These enhancements included faster movement times, smaller dwell times, and more harmonic movements, all without decreases in movement accuracy. These results replicate our previous findings with young adults and extend the finding to older adult participants. Interestingly, the performances of the older adults following sine wave practice were as fast and as accurate as the young adults following Fitts task practice.

A Novel Approach to Enhancing Upper Extremity Coordination in Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder

“…As a result of the findings reported by Boyle et al (2015), it is believed that children with ASD could possibly benefit from tracing the sine wave in a similar way as the elderly did to improve their performance in goal directed movements.…”

“…However, this conclusion is assumed disregarding the use of augmented perceptual information, which typically leads to movement enhancement (Kovacs et al, 2008). More recently Boyle et al (2012bBoyle et al ( , 2014Boyle et al ( , 2015 have shown that through tracking a novel template, performance on a reciprocal Fitts task can be enhanced by adding information that forces the participant to adopt a different movement strategy than would typically be used, ultimately leading to enhanced performance. This suggests that if performance on a reciprocal Fitts task which encompasses goal directed movements of the limbs can be enhanced, then performance of aiming tasks related to activities of daily living also has the potential to be improved by using template tracking.…”

“…Attempting to diminish this dependency and to improve performance, Kovacs and Shea (2011) found that reduced frequency of augmented feedback displays is an effective way to reduce participants' dependency on the feedback provided during practice. Using the sine wave template during practice, Boyle et al, (2012bBoyle et al, ( , 2014Boyle et al, ( , 2015 showed that participants in the sine-wave condition did not exhibit any performance decrement on a high ID Fitts task after using the template to guide their performance during acquisition. These results clearly contradict the specificity of learning hypothesis, however, the participants using a cyclical control rather than a discrete control or following the sine wave to guide their movements, could explain the divergence of the results with previous research.…”

“…Following the 2012b study, a series of investigations examined the role of the sine wave with respect to the size of the template (Boyle, Kennedy, Wang, & Shea, 2014), the role of the performer versus observer (Boyle, Kennedy, Wang, & Shea, 2016) and the effect of aging (Boyle, Kennedy, & Shea, 2015). Regarding the aging question, the authors noted that the specific enhancements seen following the sine wave tracking task, i.e.…”

“…Interestingly, these upper movement impairments presented in the elderly seem to also occur in the people with ASD (see review Sacrey, Armstrong, Bryson, & Zwaigenbaum, 2014). Boyle et al (2015) assessed young and elderly participants on a Fitts pre-test task using 15 trials, and then each participant group was subdivided in to a sine wave training group or a Fitts target task control group. Following 45 trials of practice in their respective group, all participants performed a 15-trial Fitts post-test task.…”