The left and right hand performance of 321 right-dominant older unimpaired persons on a timed test of fine motor planning was compared with that of 244 right-dominant patients with unilatereral brain damage following stroke, using the unaffected hand. The test task, a cost- and time-efficient measure of manipulative ability, differentiated between older unimpaired persons and hemiplegic patients but did not discriminate side affected. The significant effects of right and left hemisphere stroke, aphasia, advancing age, and sex differences on manipulative ability, and their implications, are discussed in relation to the literature on ideational apraxia.
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