Aging and Motor Learning of a Functional Motor Task

Tunney, Niamh; Taylor, Leslie; Gaddy, Mandy; Rosenfeld, Amie; Pearce, Neal; Tamanini, Jeff; Treby, Alison

doi:10.1300/j148v21n03_01

Cited by 4 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 15 publications

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“…A decline of motor performance with age has been observed in many previous studies with a variety of movement tasks (Voelcker-Rehage 2008 ; Voelcker-Rehage and Willim-czik 2006 ; Etnier 1998 ; Tunney et al. 1998 ). Studies have also found that aging slows the rate of motor learning (Swinnen 1998 ; Brosseau et al 2007 ; Wishart et al.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 66%

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The effect of haptic guidance, aging, and initial skill level on motor learning of a steering task

et al. 2009

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In a previous study, we found that haptic guidance from a robotic steering wheel can improve short-term learning of steering of a simulated vehicle, in contrast to several studies of other tasks that had found that the guidance either impairs or does not aid motor learning. In this study, we examined whether haptic guidance-as-needed can improve long-term retention (across 1 week) of the steering task, with age and initial skill level as independent variables. Training with guidance-as-needed allowed all participants to learn to steer without experiencing large errors. For young participants (age 18–30), training with guidance-as-needed produced better long-term retention of driving skill than did training without guidance. For older participants (age 65–92), training with guidance-as-needed improved long-term retention in tracking error, but not significantly. However, for a subset of less skilled, older subjects, training with guidance-as-needed significantly improved long-term retention. The benefits of guidance-based training were most evident as an improved ability to straighten the vehicle direction when coming out of turns. In general, older participants not only systematically performed worse at the task than younger subjects (errors ∼3 times greater), but also apparently learned more slowly, forgetting a greater percentage of the learned task during the 1 week layoffs between the experimental sessions. This study demonstrates that training with haptic guidance can benefit long-term retention of a driving skill for young and for some old drivers. Training with haptic guidance is more useful for people with less initial skill.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 66%

“…1998). Studies have also found that aging slows the rate of motor learning (Swinnen 1998; Brosseau et al 2007; Wishart et al.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The effect of haptic guidance, aging, and initial skill level on motor learning of a steering task

et al. 2009

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“…For example, older adults tend to learn new motor skills at a slower rate and to a lesser extent than young adults. 10,11 Thus, older patients may require more training to induce a therapeutic effect (ie, efficacy). Furthermore, if more task-specific training is needed for older patients, then they must be able to tolerate these extended training sessions (ie, feasibility).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Efficacy and Feasibility of Functional Upper Extremity Task-Specific Training for Older Adults With and Without Cognitive Impairment

Schaefer

Dibble

Duff

2014

Neurorehabil Neural Repair

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Age-specific neural strategies to maintain motor performance after an acute social stress bout

Mehta

Rhee

2017

Exp Brain Res

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Stress due to cognitive demands and fatigue have shown to impair motor performance in older adults; however, the effect of social stress and its influence on prefrontal cortex (PFC) functioning in older adults during upper extremity motor performance tasks is not known. The present study explored the after-effects of an acute social stress bout on neural strategies, measured using PFC and hand/arm muscle activation, and adopted by younger and older adults to maintain handgrip force control. Nine older [74.1 (6.5) years; three men, six women] and ten younger [24.2 (5.0) years, four men, six women] adults performed handgrip force control trials at 30% maximum voluntary contractions before and after the Trier Social Stress Test (TSST). PFC activity was measured using functional near infrared spectroscopy and muscle activity from the flexor and extensor carpi radialis (FCR/ECR) was measured using electromyography. In general, aging was associated with decreased force steadiness and force complexity with a concomitant increase in bilateral PFC activity. While motor performance remained comparable before and after the TSST stress session in both age groups, the associated neural strategies differed between groups. While the stress condition was associated with lower FCR and ECR activity in younger adults despite no change in the PFC activation, stress was associated with increases in FCR activity in older adults. This stress-related compensatory neural strategy of increasing hand/arm muscle activation, potentially via the additional recruitment of the stress-motor neural circuitry, may have played a role in maintaining motor performance in older adults.

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Aging and Motor Learning of a Functional Motor Task

Cited by 4 publications

References 15 publications

The effect of haptic guidance, aging, and initial skill level on motor learning of a steering task

The effect of haptic guidance, aging, and initial skill level on motor learning of a steering task

Efficacy and Feasibility of Functional Upper Extremity Task-Specific Training for Older Adults With and Without Cognitive Impairment

Age-specific neural strategies to maintain motor performance after an acute social stress bout

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