Aging reduces the ability to change grip force and balance control simultaneously

Mallau, Sophie; Simoneau, Martin

doi:10.1016/j.neulet.2008.10.097

Cited by 10 publications

(13 citation statements)

References 13 publications

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“…This suggests that these participants had adapted their visuomotor mapping before transferring to the standing condition. It is known that controlling balance and upper-limb movement simultaneously is likely a bigger challenge for older than young individuals (Mallau and Simoneau 2009). For instance, lifting an object while standing reduces the ability of older individuals to fine-tune their finger grip force compared to lifting the same object lift in a seated position.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Balance control interferes with the tracing performance of a pattern with mirror-reversed vision in older persons

Lemieux

Simoneau

Tessier

et al. 2013

AGE

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When tracing a template with mirror-reversed vision (or distorted vision), the sensory information arising from the movement does not match the expected sensory consequences. In such situations, participants have to learn a new visuomotor mapping in order to trace the template with an accuracy and speed approaching that observed when tracing with direct vision. There are several suggestions that such visuomotor learning requires lowering the gain of the proprioceptive inputs. Generally, subjects learn this task in a seated condition offering a stable postural platform. Adapting to the new visuomotor relationship in a standing condition could add complexity and even hinder sensorimotor adaptation because balance control and processing of additional information typically interfere with each other. To examine this possibility, older individuals and young adults (on average, 70 and 22 years of age, respectively) were assigned to groups that trained to trace a shape with mirror-reversed vision in a seated or a standing condition for two sessions. For a third session, the seated groups (young and elderly) transferred to the standing condition while the standing groups continued to perform the tracing task while standing. This procedure allowed comparing the tracing performance of all groups (with the same amount of practice) in a standing condition. The standing groups also did a fourth session in a seated condition. Results show that older participants initially exposed to the standing condition were much slower to trace the template than all other groups (including the older group that performed the tracing task while seated). This slowness did not result from a baseline general slowness but from a genuine interference between balance control and the visuomotor conflict resulting from tracing the pattern with mirror-reversed vision. Besides, the Standing-Old participants that transferred to a seated condition in the fourth session immediately improved their tracing by reducing the total displacement covered by the pen to trace the template. Interestingly, the results did not support a transfer-appropriate practice hypothesis which suggests that training in a standing condition (at the third session) should have benefited the performance of those individuals who initially learned to trace the mirror pattern in a standing condition. This has important clinical implications: training at adapting to new sensory contexts or environmental conditions in conditions that do not challenge balance control could be necessary if one desires to attenuate the detrimental consequences on the postural or motor performances brought up by the interference between maintaining balance and the sensory reweighing processes.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Balance control interferes with the tracing performance of a pattern with mirror-reversed vision in older persons

Lemieux

Simoneau

Tessier

et al. 2013

AGE

Self Cite

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“…The grip forces in the elderly are excessive during both static [23,24] and dynamic tasks [25] , and during continuous [25] and discrete [26] tasks. Moreover, the increase in force was observed irrespective of object properties [27,28] , the number of digits involved (2-versus multi-digit grasp) [29,30] , the predictability of the task [29,31] , and whether participants were seated or standing [32] . Comparisons of young, middleaged and elderly participants by Cole et al [29] and Lindberg et al [24] indicated that increases in grip force magnitude during object manipulation begin as early as 50 years of age.…”

Section: Age-related Changes In Grip Force Scalingmentioning

confidence: 91%

Finger Force Coordination Underlying Object Manipulation in the Elderly – A Mini-Review

2010

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Background: A decline in manual dexterity is a common phenomenon in elderly individuals. Often, simple daily activities such as handling coins and preparing meals become challenging. A substantial decline in manual dexterity may impact one’s ability to live independently. Thus, understanding the underlying causes of these impairments is essential. Considerable attention has been given to the regulation of fingertip forces during object grasp, lift and transport in the elderly. Objective: Here we review studies on fingertip force coordination in the elderly, with an emphasis on the relationship between the degree of change in elderly grip force control and the nature of the tasks performed. Methods: A literature search was performed using Medline, Pubmed, and Web of Science electronic databases covering studies from 1985 to 2009, inputting combinations of the following key words: grip force, grasp force, fingertip forces, precision grip, aging, elderly, and hand motor control. Results: Studies show a consistent elevation in grip force magnitudes that may easily lead to fatigue. These force increases may represent a compensation for increased skin slipperiness or a reduction in tactile information. In contrast, anticipatory grip force control (planning) remains relatively intact. Age-related changes in anticipatory control seem to emerge only during more complex tasks. Conclusion: The relationship between task complexity and degree of age-related changes suggests that results from simple, laboratory-based tasks may only partially explain impairments observed during the performance of activities of daily living, since the latter ones are typically more complex. A better understanding of impaired manual dexterity experienced by elderly individuals could be achieved by expanding experimental paradigms so that they more closely resemble the complexities encountered in functional daily tasks. Subsequently, these findings could be used in clinical settings to develop treatment approaches that consider grasp control in the context of behaviorally meaningful tasks.

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“…These forces need to be controlled to ensure stability and to accurately reach and efficiently grasp an object. To counteract these forces, stabilizing motor commands (i.e., anticipatory postural adjustments) occur prior to the limb movements [22][23][24][25][26]. Therefore, when one points at a target or grasps an object, a less stable initial posture could add a constraint and limit the performance.…”

Section: Posture Movement and Obesitymentioning

confidence: 99%

Obesity Alters Balance and Movement Control

et al. 2013

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Epidemic excess of weight is considered as a critical and common health problem. It is associated with many physiological and psychological disorders. Other than metabolic problems, obesity also affects the efficient execution of daily living activities such as the simple act of standing, walking or grabbing an object while standing. This article aims at presenting a state of knowledge of recent studies illustrating the detrimental effect of obesity and the beneficial effect of weight loss on postural stability and on the speed and accuracy of upper-limb goal-directed movements performed from a standing posture. Evidence supporting the suggestion that greater strength and training, at least for standing conditions, do not overcome the functional limitations imposed by obesity are presented. It is suggested that obese individuals may suffer from a reduced plantar sole sensitivity. As a conclusion to this work, we confirm the deleterious effect of overweight on motor control as weight loss translates into an improved balance control and upper limb speed-accuracy performance when standing.

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Aging reduces the ability to change grip force and balance control simultaneously

Cited by 10 publications

References 13 publications

Balance control interferes with the tracing performance of a pattern with mirror-reversed vision in older persons

Balance control interferes with the tracing performance of a pattern with mirror-reversed vision in older persons

Finger Force Coordination Underlying Object Manipulation in the Elderly – A Mini-Review

Obesity Alters Balance and Movement Control

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