Evidence for age-related decline in visuomotor function and reactive stepping adjustments

Young, William R.; Hollands, Mark A.

doi:10.1016/j.gaitpost.2012.04.009

Cited by 53 publications

(51 citation statements)

References 24 publications

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“…A possible explanation for these differences between elderly and younger adults may be found in cognitive declines that come with age. Previous research in stepping abilities showed that elderly need more time than younger adults to look at a target and plan and execute an accurate step [19], [20]. These results indicate age-related delays in the processing of visuomotor information to guide a goal-directed movement [19], [20].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 71%

“…Previous research in stepping abilities showed that elderly need more time than younger adults to look at a target and plan and execute an accurate step [19], [20]. These results indicate age-related delays in the processing of visuomotor information to guide a goal-directed movement [19], [20]. These delays in visuomotor processing times may in the present study have influenced the timing and execution of the weight shifting task in elderly, leading to an increased movement time and less smooth COP movements.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Differences between Young and Older Adults in the Control of Weight Shifting within the Surface of Support

et al. 2014

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An important reason for falling in elderly is incorrect weight-shifting. In many daily life activities quick and accurate weight-shifting is needed to maintain balance and to prevent from falling. The present study aims to gain more insight in age-related differences in the control of weight-shifting. Nine healthy older adults (70.3±6.9 years) and twelve young adults (20.9±0.5 years) participated in the study. They performed a weight shifting task by moving the body's center of pressure, represented by a red dot on a screen, in different directions, towards targets of different sizes and at different distances projected on a screen. Movement time, fluency and accuracy of the movement were determined. Accuracy was quantified by the number of times the cursor hit the goal target before a target switch was realized (counts on goal) and by the time required to realize a target switch after the goal target was hit by the cursor for the first time (dwelling time). Fluency was expressed by the maximal deviation of the performed path with respect to the ideal path and the number of peaks, or inflections in the performed path. Significant main effects of target size, target distance and age on all outcome measures were found. With decreasing target size, increasing target distance and increasing age, movement time significantly increased and fluency and accuracy significantly decreased (i.e. increased number of peaks, maximal deviation, number of times on the goal target and longer dwelling time around the goal target). In addition, significant interaction effects of size*age and distance*age were found. Older adults needed more time to perform the weight-shifting task and their movements were less fluent and accurate compared to younger adults, especially with increasing task difficulty. This indicates that elderly might have difficulties with executing an adequate adaptation to a perturbation in daily life.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 71%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Differences between Young and Older Adults in the Control of Weight Shifting within the Surface of Support

et al. 2014

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“…On arrival, participants were fitted with reflective markers placed on the sternum and mid-foot of both feet [38], and then with a Mobile Eye-XG portable eye-tracking system (ASL, Bedford, MA). The eye-tracking system records participants’ gaze by contrasting the pupil and corneal reflection, allowing the superimposition of a point of gaze crosshair on a video of the environment recorded from a scene camera.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Gazing into Thin Air: The Dual-Task Costs of Movement Planning and Execution during Adaptive Gait

et al. 2016

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We examined the effect of increased cognitive load on visual search behavior and measures of gait performance during locomotion. Also, we investigated how personality traits, specifically the propensity to consciously control or monitor movements (trait movement ‘reinvestment’), impacted the ability to maintain effective gaze under conditions of cognitive load. Healthy young adults traversed a novel adaptive walking path while performing a secondary serial subtraction task. Performance was assessed using correct responses to the cognitive task, gaze behavior, stepping accuracy, and time to complete the walking task. When walking while simultaneously carrying out the secondary serial subtraction task, participants visually fixated on task-irrelevant areas ‘outside’ the walking path more often and for longer durations of time, and fixated on task-relevant areas ‘inside’ the walkway for shorter durations. These changes were most pronounced in high-trait-reinvesters. We speculate that reinvestment-related processes placed an additional cognitive demand upon working memory. These increased task-irrelevant ‘outside’ fixations were accompanied by slower completion rates on the walking task and greater gross stepping errors. Findings suggest that attention is important for the maintenance of effective gaze behaviors, supporting previous claims that the maladaptive changes in visual search observed in high-risk older adults may be a consequence of inefficiencies in attentional processing. Identifying the underlying attentional processes that disrupt effective gaze behaviour during locomotion is an essential step in the development of rehabilitation, with this information allowing for the emergence of interventions that reduce the risk of falling.

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“…It is becoming a very useful tool in the development of protocols that investigate cognitive and visual processes, as eye movement research has shown insight about underlying cognitive processes [2]. Recently the move from static to mobile eye-trackers has opened up possibilities to explore eye movements during dynamic activities, such as walking [3,4], driving [5,6], obstacle crossing [7], and stepping [8]. In these situations and other tasks, research is often concentrated on the analysis of saccadic eye movement (fast eye movement between fixation points) and fixations (pauses on areas of interest).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Quantifying saccades while walking: Validity of a novel velocity-based algorithm for mobile eye tracking

Stuart

Galna

Lord

et al. 2014

2014 36th Annual International Conference of the IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society

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We validate a novel algorithm to detect saccades from raw data obtained during walking from a mobile infra-red eye-tracking device. The algorithm was based on a velocity threshold detection method, which excluded artefacts such as blinks and flickers using specific criteria. Mobile infra-red eye-tracking was performed with a group of healthy older adults (n=5) and Parkinson's disease (n=5) subjects. Saccades determined from raw eye tracker data obtained during walking using the algorithm were compared to a ground truth dataset defined as frame-by-frame visual inspection of raw eye-tracking videos. 100 trials from 10 subjects were analyzed and compared. The algorithm was highly reliable when compared to the ground truth (ICC(2,1) = 0.94), with an overall correct saccade detection percentage of 85%. This provides a simple yet robust algorithm for the analysis of mobile eye-tracking data.

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Evidence for age-related decline in visuomotor function and reactive stepping adjustments

Cited by 53 publications

References 24 publications

Differences between Young and Older Adults in the Control of Weight Shifting within the Surface of Support

Differences between Young and Older Adults in the Control of Weight Shifting within the Surface of Support

Gazing into Thin Air: The Dual-Task Costs of Movement Planning and Execution during Adaptive Gait

Quantifying saccades while walking: Validity of a novel velocity-based algorithm for mobile eye tracking

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