Vision of the active limb impairs bimanual motor tracking in young and older adults

Abstract

Despite the intensive investigation of bimanual coordination, it remains unclear how directing vision toward either limb influences performance, and whether this influence is affected by age. To examine these questions, we assessed the performance of young and older adults on a bimanual tracking task in which they matched motor-driven movements of their right hand (passive limb) with their left hand (active limb) according to in-phase and anti-phase patterns. Performance in six visual conditions involving central vision, and/or peripheral vision of the active and/or passive limb was compared to performance in a no vision condition. Results indicated that directing central vision to the active limb consistently impaired performance, with higher impairment in older than young adults. Conversely, directing central vision to the passive limb improved performance in young adults, but less consistently in older adults. In conditions involving central vision of one limb and peripheral vision of the other limb, similar effects were found to those for conditions involving central vision of one limb only. Peripheral vision alone resulted in similar or impaired performance compared to the no vision (NV) condition. These results indicate that the locus of visual attention is critical for bimanual motor control in young and older adults, with older adults being either more impaired or less able to benefit from a given visual condition.

Neural predictors of motor control and impact of visuo‐proprioceptive information in youth

“…Tracking accuracy was assessed using an apparatus that has been described in detail previously in Alaerts et al [] and Boisgontier et al []. In short, the hands were inserted in two manipulanda, while the forearms rested in neutral prosupination, with elbows at 90° flexion (Fig.…”

“…In the PROP condition, visual information was removed by covering the right (passive) hand with an opaque box. White arrows indicate the gaze direction toward the right passive hand [adapted from Boisgontier et al, ]. [Color figure can be viewed at http://wileyonlinelibrary.com]…”

“… Sample of motor‐generated motion in the passive hand and tracking motion of the active hand for in‐phase and anti‐phase conditions [adapted from Boisgontier et al, ]. [Color figure can be viewed at http://wileyonlinelibrary.com]…”

“…In these three sensory conditions, participants were required to direct overt attention towards the passively moved right wrist and away from the actively moved left wrist. To account for possible effects of overt attention on proprioceptive accuracy [Boisgontier et al, ], we included the attention condition (ATT). This condition was identical to the PROP condition, except that participants had to direct overt attention away from the passive limb by fixating on a cross located at 1 m in front of them at eye‐height.…”

Age-related Changes in Bilateral Upper Extremity Coordination

“…However, the accuracy of force adaptation was reduced for older adults during task conditions with low visual information and greater force differences between the hands, illustrating a limit to the age-related compensation. How visual attention is directed also affects bilateral coordination [51]. Performance of a bimanual tracking task under different visual conditions (central, peripheral, full, or no vision) of either voluntary or passive movements illustrated similar general effects of visual and task condition of both age groups, although older adults were either more impaired or adapted less with different visual information.…”