64 research outputs found
Factors underlying age-related changes in discrete aiming
Age has a clear impact on one’s ability to make accurate goal-directed aiming movements. Older adults seem to plan slower and shorter-ranged initial pulses towards the target, and rely more on sensory feedback to ensure endpoint accuracy. Despite the fact that these age-related changes in manual aiming have been observed consistently, the underlying mechanism remains speculative. In an attempt to isolate four commonly suggested underlying factors, young and older adults were instructed to make discrete aiming movements under varying speed and accuracy constraints. Results showed that older adults were physically able to produce fast primary submovements and that they demonstrated similar movement-programming capacities as young adults. On the other hand, considerable evidence was found supporting a decreased visual feedback-processing efficiency and the implementation of a play-it-safe strategy in older age. In conclusion, a combination of the latter two factors seems to underlie the age-related changes in manual aiming behaviour
Cognitive-bias modification intervention to improve physical activity in patients following a rehabilitation programme:protocol for the randomised controlled IMPACT trial
Evaluating the effectiveness of land use management as a natural flood management intervention in reducing the impact of flooding for an upland catchment
Natural flood management (NFM) is a method for reducing flooding by using a catchment-based approach to managing flood risk. Understanding and quantifying the impact of implementing NFM at the catchment scale remains ambiguous with a clear need for robust empirical evidence. A combination of fieldwork, laboratory analysis and modelling was applied to quantify the impacts of land use management changes on catchment flood hazard. Soil hydraulic conductivity was measured under varying land management regimes and used to parameterize a physically based spatially distributed hydrological model (SD-TOPMODEL). A suite of stakeholder informed land management scenarios was modelled, permitting the quantification of the impact of NFM interventions on the timing and the intensity of the peak discharge at the catchment outlet. The findings support the implementation of NFM interventions as a means of reducing flood hazard within a rural upland catchment. Improved soil infiltration provided the greatest reduction in the intensity and delayed timing of the flood peak for a 10-year occurrence storm event (7% reduction in peak runoff and 8% increase in lag time) with similar reductions observed for a 100-year storm event. Catchment wide woodland planting reduced peak flow by 11% during the 100-year event but was not effective during the 10-year event. Riparian buffer strips provided consistent reductions in peak flow and in the timing of the peak across both storm events with no significant differences relating to vegetation age. Critically, we observed that the effect of implementing multiple NFM interventions was not additive and that efficiencies can be made in using this modelling approach to prioritize the most effective outcomes
Examining links between anxiety, reinvestment and walking when talking by older adults during adaptive gait
Falls by older adults often result in reduced quality of life and debilitating fear of further falls. Stopping walking when talking (SWWT) is a significant predictor of future falls by older adults and is thought to reflect age-related increases in attentional demands of walking. We examine whether SWWT is associated with use of explicit movement cues during locomotion, and evaluate if conscious control (i.e., movement specific reinvestment) is causally linked to falls-related anxiety during a complex walking task. We observed whether twenty-four older adults stopped walking when talking when asked a question during an adaptive gait task. After certain trials, participants completed a visual-spatial recall task regarding walkway features, or answered questions about their movements during the walk. In a subsequent experimental condition, participants completed the walking task under conditions of raised postural threat. Compared to a control group, participants who SWWT reported higher scores for aspects of reinvestment relating to conscious motor processing but not movement self-consciousness. The higher scores for conscious motor processing were preserved when scores representing cognitive function were included as a covariate. There were no group differences in measures of general cognitive function, visual spatial working memory or balance confidence. However, the SWWT group reported higher scores on a test of external awareness when walking, indicating allocation of attention away from task-relevant environmental features. Under conditions of increased threat, participants self-reported significantly greater state anxiety and reinvestment and displayed more accurate responses about their movements during the task. SWWT is not associated solely with age-related cognitive decline or generic increases in age-related attentional demands of walking. SWWT may be caused by competition for phonological resources of working memory associated with consciously processing motor actions and appears to be causally linked with fall-related anxiety and increased vigilance.This research was supported by The Royal Society (IE131576) and British Academy (SG132820)
Physical activity to improve cognition in older adults: can physical activity programs enriched with cognitive challenges enhance the effects? A systematic review and meta-analysis
: EPHPP quality rating scores (DOCX 38 kb
Age-related decrements in dual-task performance: comparison of different mobility and cognitive tasks. A cross sectional study
This cross-sectional study investigated the age-related differences in dual-task performance both in mobility and cognitive tasks and the additive dual-task costs in a sample of older, middle-aged and young adults. 74 older adults (M = 72.63±5.57 years), 58 middle-aged adults (M = 46.69±4.68 years) and 63 young adults (M = 25.34±3.00 years) participated in the study. Participants performed different mobility and subtraction tasks under both single- and dual-task conditions. Linear regressions, repeated-measures and one-way analyses of covariance were used, The results showed: significant effects of the age on the dual and mobility tasks (p<0.05) and differences among the age-groups in the combined dual-task costs (p<0.05); significant decreases in mobility performance under dual-task conditions in all groups (p<0.05) and a decrease in cognitive performance in the older group (p<0.05). Dual-task activity affected mobility and cognitive performance, especially in older adults who showed a higher dual-task cost, suggesting that dual-tasks activities are affected by the age and consequently also mobility and cognitive tasks are negatively influenced
The influence of age and surface compliance on changes in postural control and attention due to ankle neuromuscular fatigue
Dose–Response Relationships of Resistance Training in Healthy Old Adults: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis
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