Silver Hoosiers - Health and Aging Research Lab

poster abstractFacing the challenge of an entire nation growing older rapidly, the mission of the Silver Hoosiers-Health and Aging Research Lab is to promote health and independence in seniors. Located in the Department of Occupational Therapy within the School of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences, this lab is led by Dr. Chiung-ju (CJ) Liu, a gerontologist, and collaborates from other schools including the School of Nursing and the School of Informatics. The poster will showcase the research conducted at the Silver Hoosiers-Health and Aging Research Lab. The lab research foci include 1) health literacy and comprehension, 2) muscle strength training and physical disability, and 3) systematic review and evidence-based practice. Dr. Liu’s health literacy work focuses on increasing accessibility of complex written health information (i.e. cancer prevention and instructions of medical devices) to seniors through the application of text cohesion and multimedia. The lab is equipped with sophisticated eye-tracking technology to study information processing load. Dr. Liu’s muscle strength training work examines the effects of progressive resistance strength training on physical functioning in older adults via meta-analysis. Additionally, Dr. Liu is in partnership with the American Occupational Therapy Association in reviewing the effects of environmental approaches on improving daily function in older adults with low vision. The aim of her review work is to provide the best research evidence to guide clinical practice. The impact of gaining is multidimensional. The lab welcomes collaborators interested in aging-related issues that share the same view of the lab’s mission

Eye movements of young and older adults during reading

This article may not exactly replicate the final version published in the APA journal. It is not the copy of record.The eye movements of young and older adults were tracked as they read sentences varying in syntactic complexity. In Experiment 1, cleft object and object relative clause sentences were more difficult to process than cleft subject and subject relative clause sentences; however, older adults made many more regressions, resulting in increased regression path fixation times and total fixation times, than young adults while processing cleft object and object relative clause sentences. In Experiment 2, older adults experienced more difficulty than young adults while reading cleft and relative clause sentences with temporary syntactic ambiguities created by deleting the that complementizers. Regression analyses indicated that readers with smaller working memories need more regressions and longer fixation times to process cleft object and object relative clause sentences. These results suggest that age-associated declines in working memory do affect syntactic processing. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved

Progressive resistance strength training for improving physical function in older adults

Liu, C., & Latham, N. K. (2009). Progressive resistance strength training for improving physical function in older adults. The Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, (3), CD002759. http://doi.org/10.1002/14651858.CD002759.pub

What Are the Correlations Between Muscle Strength, Motor Coordination, and Daily Function of the Upper Extremities in Older Adults?

poster abstractMuscle strength is a basic body function needed to perform everyday activities. Therefore, age-related decline in muscle strength may impair older adults’ independence at home. Age-related decline in muscle strength occurs in the lower and upper extremities. The literature has shown a strong correlation between the loss of muscle strength in the lower extremities and mobility disability. However, little is known about the loss of muscle strength in the upper extremities and daily function. The purpose of this study is to estimate how muscle strength relates to motor coordination and daily function in the upper extremities of older adults. We plan to recruit 50 community dwelling older adults without major neurological disorders in a cross-sectional study. We have tested 18 participants (36% of our expected total) with an average age of 69 (SD = 4.5). Participants tested so far include 6 males and 12 females, in which 7 were African American and 11 were Caucasian. The average grip strength was 23.6 kg (SD = 10.1). The average number of arm curls done in 30 seconds were 12.7 (SD = 4.4). The average score from the Purdue Pegboard was 9.7 (SD = 1.9). The average score of the upper extremity function measure by the Late Life Function & Disability was 74.1 (SD = 13.8). The correlations among variables will be calculated when we reach the recruitment goal of 50 participants

Sentence production by younger and older adults in controlled contexts

This is an electronic version of an article published in J Gerontol B Psychol Sci Soc Sci (2004) 59 (5): P220-P224. doi: 10.1093/geronb/59.5.P220In this experiment we compared young and older adults' abilities to produce complex sentences under controlled conditions. We asked participants to memorize sentence stems differing in syntactical complexity and then to produce a complete sentence using the stem. The length, complexity, and content of young adults' responses varied with the syntactical complexity of the stems, whereas older adults' responses did not. These results suggest that working memory processing limitations impose a “ceiling” on older adults' production of complex sentences, limiting their length, complexity, and content

Young and Older Adults’ Reading of Distracters

Eye-tracking technology was employed to examine young and older adults' performance in the reading with distraction paradigm. Distracters of 1, 2, and 4 words that formed meaningful phrases were used. There were marked age differences in fixation patterns. Young adults' fixations to the distracters and targets increased with distracter length. This suggests that they were attempting to integrate the distracters with the sentence and had more and more difficulty doing so as the distracters increased in length. Young adults did have better comprehension of the sentences than older adults, and they also had better recognition memory for target words and distracters

Promoting ADL independence in vulnerable, community-dwelling older adults: a pilot RCT comparing 3-Step Workout for Life versus resistance exercise

BACKGROUND: Resistance exercise is effective to increase muscle strength for older adults; however, its effect on the outcome of activities of daily living is often limited. The purpose of this study was to examine whether 3-Step Workout for Life (which combines resistance exercise, functional exercise, and activities of daily living exercise) would be more beneficial than resistance exercise alone. METHODS: A single-blind randomized controlled trial was conducted. Fifty-two inactive, community-dwelling older adults (mean age =73 years) with muscle weakness and difficulty in activities of daily living were randomized to receive 3-Step Workout for Life or resistance exercise only. Participants in the 3-Step Workout for Life Group performed functional movements and selected activities of daily living at home in addition to resistance exercise. Participants in the Resistance Exercise Only Group performed resistance exercise only. Both groups were comparable in exercise intensity (moderate), duration (50-60 minutes each time for 10 weeks), and frequency (three times a week). Assessment of Motor and Process Skills, a standard performance test on activities of daily living, was administered at baseline, postintervention, and 6 months after intervention completion. RESULTS: At postintervention, the 3-Step Workout for Life Group showed improvement on the outcome measure (mean change from baseline =0.29, P=0.02), but the improvement was not greater than the Resistance Exercise Only Group (group mean difference =0.24, P=0.13). However, the Resistance Exercise Only Group showed a significant decline (mean change from baseline =-0.25, P=0.01) 6 months after the intervention completion. Meanwhile, the superior effect of 3-Step Workout for Life was observed (group mean difference =0.37, P<0.01). CONCLUSION: Compared to resistance exercise alone, 3-Step Workout for Life improves the performance of activities of daily living and attenuates the disablement process in older adults