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Aging, Attention, and Bimanual Coordination*

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  31 March 2010

Timothy D. Lee ,
Laurie R. Wishart  and
Jason E. Murdoch
Timothy D. Lee*
Affiliation:
McMaster University
Laurie R. Wishart
Affiliation:
McMaster University
Jason E. Murdoch
Affiliation:
McMaster University
*
Requests for offprints should be sent to: / Les demandes de tirés-a-part doivent être adressées à : Timothy Lee, Ph.D., Department of Kinesiology, McMaster University, 1280 Main St. West, Hamilton, ONL8S 4K1. (scapps@mcmaster.ca)
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Abstract

Although aging is normally associated with declines in motor performance, recent evidence suggests that older adults suffer no loss in some measures of bimanual coordination relative to younger adults. Two hypotheses for this finding were compared in the present research. One hypothesis was based on the assumption that these coordination patterns are automatic and relatively impervious to the effects of aging. An alternative explanation is that older adults maintain this level of bimanual coordination at a cost of increased attention demand. These hypotheses were tested in an experiment in which bimanual coordination patterns (in-phase and anti-phase) were paced at two metronome frequencies (1 and 2 Hz), either alone or together, with serial performance of an attention-demanding task (adding 3s to a two-digit number at a 1 Hz pace). The results of the study provided some support for both hypotheses. The automaticity view was supported only for the coordination patterns at the 1 Hz metronome frequency. Support for an attention allocation hypothesis was shown in the observed-movement frequency data, as older adults tended to sacrifice movement frequency at the 2 Hz metronome pace in order to maintain performance in the movement and counting tasks. These findings are discussed relative to recent accounts of the role of automaticity in the absence of age-related differences in the performance of cognitive tasks.

Résumé

Bien que le vieillissement soit ordinairement associé au déclin de l'exécution motrice, les données récentes suggèrent que les personnes âgées ne souffrent pas de perte dans certaines épreuves de coordination bi-manuelle proportionnellement aux jeunes adultes. L'article offre une comparaison de deux hypothèses : une hypothèse repose sur la supposition que les modèles de coordination sont automatiques et sont relativement indifférents aux effets du vieillissement ; l'autre propose qu'afin de soutenir ce niveau de coordination bi-manuelle, les personnes âgées doivent augmenter leur niveau de concentration. Les hypothèses ont fait l'objet d'expérience où les modèles de coordination bi-manuelle (phase et anti-phase) ont été exposés à un rythme de deux fréquences métronomiques (1 et 2 Hz), soit individuel ou de concert avec une performance en série sur une tâche demandant un niveau de concentration (ajouts de 3s à un numéro à deux chiffres à un rythme de 1 Hz). Dans une certaine mesure, les résultats de l'étude soutiennent les deux hypothèses. L'approche automaticité n'était soutenue que pour les modèles de coordination à la fréquence métronomique de 1 Hz. L'approche de l'attribution à la concentration n'a été démontrée que pour les données observées dans la fréquence de mouvement ; puisque les personnes âgées ont tendance à sacrifier la fréquence de mouvement et de numération au rythme métronomique de 2 Hz. Ces résultats sont examinés à la lumière des recherches récentes sur le rôle de l'automaticité en l'absence de différences causées par l'âge lors de l'exécution des tâches cognitives.

Keywords

agingmotor controlcoordinationattentionvieillissementexécution motricecoordinationconcentration
Type
Articles
Information
Canadian Journal on Aging / La Revue canadienne du vieillissement , Volume 21 , Issue 4 , Winter/Hiver 2002 , pp. 549 - 557
Copyright
Copyright © Canadian Association on Gerontology 2002

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Footnotes

*

The research reported in this manuscript was supported by an NSERC grant (TDL) and by the Ontario Ministry of Health (LRW). We thank John Moroz and Douglas Oleksuik for technical assistance and Neil Charness for advice during the preparation of the manuscript. We also thank two anonymous reviewers of this paper for their helpful comments.

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