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Movement strategies in vertical aiming of older adults

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Abstract

The current study examined the movement kinematics of older adults when aiming to vertically oriented targets. Late middle-age and early old-age participants completed 20 trials to a small target located downward or upward by 0.16 m from a home position at shoulder height. Aiming direction had a significant effect, resulting in more submovements, which were mostly reflective of undershooting when aiming to the downward compared to upward target. In trials containing a submovement, both groups exhibited shorter total movement time, concomitant with a decrease in duration of the primary movement and an increase in submovement amplitude, when aiming to the downward target. Measures of dispersion also differed in accord with the amplitude of submovements, such that there was greater spatial and temporal variability in the primary movement when aiming in the downward direction. While there was limited evidence of a difference between the groups, there were significant correlations between age and several dependent measures when aiming to the downward target. Of note, in trials containing submovements, older participants exhibited larger amplitude and longer duration submovements, as well as shorter amplitude primary movement. Spatial variability at peak velocity also increased as a function of age when aiming downward, but not in trials without submovements. An explanation related to physical limits on movement production is discounted given the lack of consistent findings between trial types. Instead, we suggest older participants’ exhibit strategic differences in movement kinematics when aiming to vertically located targets, and that these change progressively with age in order to maintain speed-accuracy relations.

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Notes

  1. As a consequence of not restricting movement to a single axis, it is likely that participants would have lifted the finger away from the screen as they moved off the home position. We verified this by extracting the peak amplitude in movement away from the screen, which for the group was 0.019 m (SD = ±0.013 m). ANOVA on these data indicated a main effect of direction only, with less movement away from the screen evident when aiming downward (0.016 m) compared to upward (0.022 m): F(1,24) = 8.82, P < .01, η p ² = .27.

  2. While the inclusion of submovements associated with a significant deviation in acceleration may have led to a small increase in the total number of identified submovements (Fradet et al. 2008a, b), we opted to use a more conservative approach and thus ensure that we only extracted submovements that were indicative of a clear movement reacceleration.

  3. Note that not all participants exhibited undershoots, and particularly so when aiming to the upward target. Therefore, mean data were calculated from an unequal number of trials, and degrees of freedom reflected the total number of participants who exhibited at least one trial comprising a primary movement followed by a submovement.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Research Institute for Sport and Exercise Sciences, Faculty of Science, Liverpool John Moores University, Tom Reilly Building, Byrom Street, L3 3AF, Liverpool, UK

    Simon J. Bennett & Digby Elliott

  2. Department of Kinesiology, McMaster University, Hamilton, ON, Canada

    Digby Elliott

  3. Department of Physical Education, University Federal of Parana, Curitiba, Parana, Brazil

    Andre Rodacki

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  1. Simon J. Bennett
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  2. Digby Elliott
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  3. Andre Rodacki
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Correspondence to Simon J. Bennett.

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Bennett, S.J., Elliott, D. & Rodacki, A. Movement strategies in vertical aiming of older adults. Exp Brain Res 216, 445–455 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00221-011-2947-x

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00221-011-2947-x

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