The Effects Of Aging On Cognitive Motor Control

THE EFFECTS OF AGING ON COGNITIVE MOTOR CONTROL Alex Shaver June, 2019 Director of Thesis: Dr. J.C. Mizelle Major Department: Kinesiology Introduction: Processing speed, working memory capacity, inhibitory function, and long-term memory are all aspects of information processing that become less efficient with age. Unsurprisingly, brain size, density, and proficiency regarding complex motor behavior deteriorate with the introduction of neurological disorders illness, injury, and even healthy aging. What remains unexplained is why declines in the understanding and execution of tool-related actions similar to clinical populations have been seen in the healthy aging population. However, some older individuals maintain the ability to plan and execute complex, goal-oriented movements, referred to as praxis. Whether praxis deficits are a product of neuroanatomical alterations or arise from changes in the functional properties of regions and networks normally recruited for processing tasks is currently unknown. We do know that older adults engage in scaffolding, overactivation of expected brain regions or the additional activation of regions not typically recruited by younger adults in the same task. More specifically, hemispheric asymmetry reduction is a type of scaffolding seen in the older brain (HAROLD). HAROLD activation is described as a reduced activity in the initial region and increased activation in the same area of the opposite hemisphere - reminiscent of a mirror-image. Shifts from using posterior brain regions to anterior regions (PASA) are also patterns seen in healthy older adults. Whether or not these activation patterns are helpful or harmful in compensating for the inevitable changes with healthy aging is unclear. Hypotheses: We hypothesized that the older group (OG) would show increased bilateral activity compared to the younger group (YG) in response to the ideal tool (C1) and plausible tool (C2) conditions. This was expected to be true for each region of interest (ROI): frontal, premotor, and parietal. This bilateral activation is expected to apply to the expected shift from recruiting posterior brain regions to an anterior focus expected for C1 and C2 in OG compared to YG. We also expected to see differences between the groups' ERP amplitudes and latencies indicative of greater task difficulty for OG compared to YG. Purpose: This study aimed to better understand the cortical dynamics that support the ability of some healthy older individuals to evaluate common tools in different situations by comparing the neural responses to younger adults. A better understanding of the neurophysiological differences between these two healthy populations in successful tool-use and evaluation could be helpful in creating more personalized and effective rehabilitation programs for clinical populations as well as otherwise healthy older adults presenting with performance deficits. Methods: This study included twenty-one younger and twelve older right-handed participants between the ages of 18-35 and 60-84 years-old, respectively. Participants were presented with high resolution black and white images of ideal and plausible tool use and asked to identify them based on a preceding action description. Participants indicated their choice by pressing a corresponding button on a response pad. Using a 64-channel electroencephalography cap, the neural responses of these individuals to the stimuli were recorded. The results reported here include two latency windows (0-250ms and 350-550ms post stimulus onset) over bilateral frontal, premotor, and parietal regions of interest (ROIs) for the C1 and C2. Variance was reduced using the Bootstrap resampling method and age-based comparisons of brain activation were made with non-parametric permutation-based statistics, p

This book describes the changes in the brain and in cognitive functions that occur with aging in the absence of a neurological, psychiatric, or medical disease. It discusses aging-related changes in many brain functions, including memory, language, sensory perception, motor function, creativity, attention, executive functions, emotions and mood. The neural mechanisms that may account for specific aging-related changes in cognition, perception and behavior are explored, as well as the means by which aging-related cognitive decrements can be managed and possibly ameliorated. Consequently, this book will be of value to clinicians, including neurologists, psychiatrists, geriatricians, primary care physicians, psychologists and speech-language pathologists. In addition, researchers and graduate students who want to learn about the aging brain will find this an indispensable guide.

Recently, studies on aging processes and age-related changes in behavior have been expanding considerably, probably due to the dramatic changes observed in the demographics. This increase in the overall age and proportion of elderly people has heightened the severity of problems associated with the safety and well-being of elderly persons in everyday life. Many researchers working on motor control have thus focused more intensely on the effects of age on motor control. This new avenue of research has led to programs for alleviating or delaying the specific sensory-motor limitations encountered by the elderly (e.g. falls) in an attempt to make the elderly more autonomous. The aggregation of studies from different perspectives is often fascinating, especially when the same field can serve as a common ground between researchers. Nearly all contributors to this book work on sensory-motor aging; they represent a large range of affiliations and backgrounds including psychology, neurobiology, cognitive sciences, kinesiology, neuropsychology, neuropharmacology, motor performance, physical therapy, exercise science, and human development. Addressing age-related behavioral changes can also furnish some crucial reflections in the debate about motor coordination: aging is the product of both maturational and environmental processes, and studies on aging must determine how the intricate interrelationships between these processes evolve. The study of aging makes it possible to determine how compensatory mechanisms, operating on different subsystems and each aging at its own rate, compensate for biological degenerations and changing external demands. This volume will contribute to demonstrating that the study of the aging process raises important theoretical questions.

For most Americans, staying "mentally sharp" as they age is a very high priority. Declines in memory and decision-making abilities may trigger fears of Alzheimer's disease or other neurodegenerative diseases. However, cognitive aging is a natural process that can have both positive and negative effects on cognitive function in older adults - effects that vary widely among individuals. At this point in time, when the older population is rapidly growing in the United States and across the globe, it is important to examine what is known about cognitive aging and to identify and promote actions that individuals, organizations, communities, and society can take to help older adults maintain and improve their cognitive health. Cognitive Aging assesses the public health dimensions of cognitive aging with an emphasis on definitions and terminology, epidemiology and surveillance, prevention and intervention, education of health professionals, and public awareness and education. This report makes specific recommendations for individuals to reduce the risks of cognitive decline with aging. Aging is inevitable, but there are actions that can be taken by individuals, families, communities, and society that may help to prevent or ameliorate the impact of aging on the brain, understand more about its impact, and help older adults live more fully and independent lives. Cognitive aging is not just an individual or a family or a health care system challenge. It is an issue that affects the fabric of society and requires actions by many and varied stakeholders. Cognitive Aging offers clear steps that individuals, families, communities, health care providers and systems, financial organizations, community groups, public health agencies, and others can take to promote cognitive health and to help older adults live fuller and more independent lives. Ultimately, this report calls for a societal commitment to cognitive aging as a public health issue that requires prompt action across many sectors.

Emerging and currently available technologies offer great promise for helping older adults, even those without serious disabilities, to live healthy, comfortable, and productive lives. What technologies offer the most potential benefit? What challenges must be overcome, what problems must be solved, for this promise to be fulfilled? How can federal agencies like the National Institute on Aging best use their resources to support the translation from laboratory findings to useful, marketable products and services? Technology for Adaptive Aging is the product of a workshop that brought together distinguished experts in aging research and in technology to discuss applications of technology to communication, education and learning, employment, health, living environments, and transportation for older adults. It includes all of the workshop papers and the report of the committee that organized the workshop. The committee report synthesizes and evaluates the points made in the workshop papers and recommends priorities for federal support of translational research in technology for older adults.

As our society ages, the topic of cognitive aging is becoming increasingly important. This volume provides an accessible overview of how the cognitive system changes as a function of normal aging. Building on the successful first edition, this volume provide an even more comprehensive coverage of the major issues affecting memory, attention, language, speech and other aspects of cognitive functioning. The essential chapters from the first edition have been thoroughly revised and updated and new chapters have been introduced which draw in neuroscience studies and more applied topics. In addition, contributors were encouraged to ensure their chapters are accessible to students studying the topic for the first time. This therefore makes the volume appealing as a textbook on senior undergraduate and graduate courses.

"The primary purposes of this study were to determine the effects of cognitive load and autonomic arousal on the speech motor control of healthy older adults and healthy younger adults as well as to advance our understanding of potential age-related changes in the relationship between cognitive, autonomic, and speech motor processes. Eight healthy older adults and eight healthy younger adults completed a novel experimental paradigm in which a Stroop task was embedded within a sentence production task. Participants produced multiple repetitions of sentences in each of two Stroop conditions, congruent and incongruent. The incongruent Stroop condition represented an increase in cognitive load, compared with that associated with the congruent Stroop condition. Articulatory kinematic, autonomic, and acoustic signals were simultaneously collected as participants completed the experimental task. In addition, several forms of perceptual and behavioral data were collected to supplement the physiological data. ... This study provides empirical support for influences of cognitive and autonomic factors on speech motor control as well as for potential interactions between cognitive, autonomic, and speech motor systems. Furthermore, the observed age-related differences in the effects of increased cognitive load and autonomic arousal on speech motor performance indicate that aging may affect the relationship between cognitive, autonomic, and speech motor processes, contributing to speech motor systems that are more susceptible to destabilization in older adults."--Pages xv and xvii.

Movement is arguably the most fundamental and important function of the nervous system. Purposive movement requires the coordination of actions within many areas of the cerebral cortex, cerebellum, basal ganglia, spinal cord, and peripheral nerves and sensory receptors, which together must control a highly complex biomechanical apparatus made up of the skeleton and muscles. Beginning at the level of biomechanics and spinal reflexes and proceeding upward to brain structures in the cerebellum, brainstem and cerebral cortex, the chapters in this book highlight the important issues in movement control. Commentaries provide a balanced treatment of the articles that have been written by experts in a variety of areas concerned with movement, including behaviour, physiology, robotics, and mathematics.

Possible new breakthroughs in understanding the aging mind that can be used to benefit older people are now emerging from research. This volume identifies the key scientific advances and the opportunities they bring. For example, science has learned that among older adults who do not suffer from Alzheimer's disease or other dementias, cognitive decline may depend less on loss of brain cells than on changes in the health of neurons and neural networks. Research on the processes that maintain neural health shows promise of revealing new ways to promote cognitive functioning in older people. Research is also showing how cognitive functioning depends on the conjunction of biology and culture. The ways older people adapt to changes in their nervous systems, and perhaps the changes themselves, are shaped by past life experiences, present living situations, changing motives, cultural expectations, and emerging technology, as well as by their physical health status and sensory-motor capabilities. Improved understanding of how physical and contextual factors interact can help explain why some cognitive functions are impaired in aging while others are spared and why cognitive capability is impaired in some older adults and spared in others. On the basis of these exciting findings, the report makes specific recommends that the U.S. government support three major new initiatives as the next steps for research.

Presented in this volume is a discussion of current literature and theoretical issues relating to three aspects of late-life age-related cognitive change. Firstly, evidence regarding aging and the basic mental processes of attention, motor control, memory, language, problem-solving, and intelligence are presented. Secondly, the role of personal traits such as personality and self-efficacy in the aging of cognitive function are developed, along with self-awareness of cognitive processes and age changes in the monitoring of these processes. Thirdly, consideration is given to the study of interventions to delay or remediate the cognitive declines of aging.