Short Article: The influence of task characteristics on younger and older adult motor overflow

Abstract

This study investigated the influence of attentional and motor demands on motor overflow in 17 healthy young (18–35 years) and 17 older adults (60–80 years). Participants performed a finger pressing task by exerting either 33% or 66% of their maximal force output using their dominant or nondominant hand. Overflow was concurrently recorded in the passive hand. Attention was manipulated via a tactile stimulus presented to one or both hands for certain trials. Results showed that older adults exhibited greater overflow than young adults and that the effect of target force was exacerbated in older adults. Further, only older adult overflow was increased when tactile stimulation was directed to one or both hands. Increased overflow in older adults may result from bilateral cortical activation that is influenced by increased task demands. To perform comparatively to younger adults, older adults may compensate for age-related brain changes by recruiting an increased cortical network.

Keywords

Ageing Bilateral activation Motor overflow Motor skills Task demands

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

Addamo

P. K.

Farrow

Hoy

K. E.

Bradshaw

J. L.

Georgiou-Karistianis

(2007). The effects of age and attention on motor overflow production—a review. Brain Research Reviews 54, 189–204.

Armatas

C. A.

Summers

J. J.

Bradshaw

J. L.

(1994). Mirror movements in normal adult subjects. Journal of Clinical & Experimental Neuropsychology 16, 405–413.

Armatas

C. A.

Summers

J. J.

Bradshaw

J. L.

(1996a). Handedness and performance variability as factors influencing mirror movement occurrence. Journal of Clinical & Experimental Neuropsychology 18, 823–835.

Armatas

C. A.

Summers

J. J.

Bradshaw

J. L.

(1996b). Strength as a factor influencing mirror movements. Human Movement Science 492, 1–17.

Baliz

Armatas

Farrow

Hoy

K. E.

Fitzgerald

P. B.

Bradshaw

J. L.

(2005). The influence of attention and age on the occurrence of mirror movements. Journal of the International Neuropsychological Society 11, 855–862.

Bodwell

J. A.

Mahurin

R. K.

Waddle

Price

Cramer

S. C.

(2003). Age and features of movement influence motor overflow. Journal of the American Geriatrics Society 51, 1735–1739.

Cabeza

(2002). Hemispheric asymmetry reduction in older adults: The HAROLD model. Psychology and Aging 17, 85–100.

Carson

R. G.

(2005). Neural pathways mediating bilateral interactions between the upper limbs. Brain Research Reviews 49, 641–662.

Folstein

McHugh

(1973). “Mini Mental State”. A practical method for grading the cognitive state of patients for the clinician. Journal of Psychiatric Research 12, 189–198.

10.

Hoy

K. E.

Fitzgerald

P. B.

Bradshaw

J. L.

Armatas

C. A.

Georgiou-Karistianis

(2004). Investigating the cortical origins of motor overflow. Brain Research Reviews 46, 315–327.

11.

Hutchinson

Kobayashi

Horkan

C. M.

Pascual-Leone

Alexander

M. P.

Schlaug

(2002). Age-related differences in movement representation. NeuroImage 17, 1720–1728.

12.

Mattay

V. S.

Fera

Tessitore

Hariri

A. R.

Das

Callicott

J. H.

(2002). Neurophysiological correlates of age-related changes in human motor function. Neurology 58, 630–635.

13.

Muellbacher

Facchini

Boroojerdi

Hallett

(2000). Changes in motor cortex excitability during ipsilateral hand muscle activation in humans. Clinical Neurophysiology 111, 344–349.

14.

Naccarato

Calautti

Jones

P. S.

Day

D. J.

Carpenter

T. A.

Baron

J. C.

(2006). Does healthy aging affect the hemispheric activation balance during paced index-to-thumb opposition task? An fMRI study. NeuroImage 32, 1250–1256.

15.

Nass

(1985). Mirror movement asymmetries in congenital hemiparesis: The inhibition hypothesis revisited. Neurology 35, 1059–1062.

16.

Oldfield

R. C.

(1971). The assessment and analysis of handedness: The Edinburgh inventory. Neuropsychologia 9, 97–113.

17.

Ropper

Brown

R. H.

(2005). Adams and Victor's principles of neurology. (8th ed.). New York: McGraw-Hill.

18.

Salat

D. H.

Tuch

D. S.

Hevelone

N. D.

Fischl

Corkin

Rosas

H. D.

(2005). Age-related changes in prefrontal white matter measured by diffusion tensor imaging. Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences 1064, 37–49.

19.

Tomasch

(1954). Size, distribution, and number of fibres in the human corpus callosum. Anatomical Record 119, 119–135.

20.

Wechsler

(1999). Wechsler Abbreviated Scale of Intelligence (WASI) San Antonio, TX: Psychological Corporation.