Slowed Sensory Reweighting and Postural Illusions in Older Adults: The Moving Platform Illusion.

We investigated whether postural after-effects witnessed during transitions from a moving to stable support are accompanied by a delayed perception of platform stabilization in older adults, in two experiments. In Experiment 1, postural sway and muscle co-contraction were assessed in eleven healthy young, eleven healthy older and eleven fall-prone older adults during blind-folded stance on a fixed platform, followed by a sway-referenced platform then followed by a fixed platform again. The sway-referenced platform was more compliant for young adults to induce similar levels of postural sway in both age groups. Participants were asked to press a button whenever they perceived that the platform had stopped moving. Both older groups showed significantly larger and longer postural sway after-effects during platform stabilization compared to young adults, which were pronounced in fall-prone older adults. In both older groups elevated muscle co-contraction after-effect was also witnessed. Importantly, these after-effects were accompanied by an illusory perception of prolonged platform movement. Following this, Experiment 2 examined whether this illusory perception was a robust age-effect or an experimental confound due to greater surface compliance in young adults, which could create a larger perceptual discrepancy between moving and stable conditions. Despite exposure to the same surface compliance levels during sway-reference, the perceptual illusion was maintained in Experiment 2 in a new group of fourteen healthy older adults, compared to eleven young adults. In both studies, older adults took five times longer than young adults to perceive platform stabilization. This supports that sensory reweighting is inefficient in older adults

Prevalence and determinants of sex-specific dietary supplement use in a greek cohort

We describe the profile of dietary supplement use and its correlates in the Epirus Health Study cohort, which consists of 1237 adults (60.5% women) residing in urban north-west Greece. The association between dietary supplement use and demographic characteristics, lifestyle behaviors, personal medical history and clinical measurements was assessed using logistic regression models, separately for women and men. The overall prevalence of dietary supplement use was 31.4%, and it was higher in women (37.3%) compared to men (22.4%; p-value = 4.2−08). Based on multivariable logistic regression models, dietary supplement use in women was associated with age (positively until middle-age and slightly negatively afterwards), the presence of a chronic health condition (OR = 1.71; 95% CI, 1.18–2.46), lost/removed teeth (OR = 0.52; 95% CI, 0.35–0.78) and diastolic blood pressure (OR per 5 mmHg increase =0.84; 95% CI, 0.73–0.96); body mass index and worse general health status were borderline inversely associated. In men, dietary supplement use was positively associated with being employed (OR = 2.53; 95% CI, 1.21–5.29). A considerable proportion of our sample used dietary supplements, and the associated factors differed between women and men

Seamen on Land? A Preliminary Analysis of Medieval Ship Graffiti on Cyprus

This article reports on the results of a research project entitled ‘KARAVOI. The Ship Graffiti on the Medieval Monuments of Cyprus: Mapping, Documentation and Digitisation’, during which 233 ship graffiti were recorded in 44 different monuments on the island, dating from the 15th to the 20th centuries. Innovative recording techniques have been used to mitigate the effects of the subjective or partial recording of graffiti lines on tracing paper. Apart from the study of ship graffiti as iconographic sources, particular emphasis has been given to their geographical and social context through a comprehensive analysis of the graffiti types and their spatial distribution in the monuments as well as the monuments location on the island

Timing of repetitive movements

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The role of gender in the association between personality and task priority in older adults’ dual-tasking while walking

Abstract Background Falls are a major problem for older adults. Many falls occur when a person’s attention is divided between two tasks, such as a dual task (DT) involving walking. Most recently, the role of personality in walking performance was addressed; however, its association with DT performance remains to be determined. Methods This cross-sectional study of 73 older, community-dwelling adults explores the association between personality and DT walking and the role of gender in this relationship. Personality was evaluated using the five-factor model. Single-task (ST) and DT assessment of walking-cognitive DT performance comprised a 1-min walking task and an arithmetic task performed separately (ST) and concurrently (DT). Dual-task costs (DTCs), reflecting the proportional difference between ST and DT performance, were also calculated. Results Gender plays a role in the relationship between personality and DT. Extraversion was negatively associated with DTC-motor for men (ΔR2 = 0.06, p < 0.05). Conscientiousness was positively associated with DTC-cognition for women (ΔR2 = 0.08, p < 0.01). Conclusion These findings may lead to effective personality-based early detection and intervention for fall prevention

Ecological Relevance Determines Task Priority in Older Adults' Multitasking

status: publishe