Motor plasticity in a juggling task in older adults-a developmental study.

OBJECTIVE

to examine the plasticity of motor performance in old age. Older adults were instructed and trained in a juggling task and their performances were compared, first, within the group of older adults and, second, with the performances of children, youths and younger adults.

SUBJECTS

older adults, children, youths and younger adults (n = 1,206, range 6-89 years).

METHODS

participants were asked to learn a juggling task. Performance was tested before semantic instruction (pre-test 1), after semantic instruction (pre-test 2) and after 6 days of juggling practice (post-test). None of the participants had prior experiences in juggling. Results were analysed using repeated measure analysis of variance (ANOVA).

RESULTS

older adults showed a clear improvement in juggling performance after instruction and after six training sessions. On average, they reached performances comparable with those of children aged between 10 and 14 years, and with those of younger adults aged between 30 and 59 years. Only youths and younger adults aged between 15 and 29 years showed significantly higher performances at baseline, after instruction and after training.

CONCLUSIONS

older adults exhibit high reserve capacity, that is, a potential for learning 'new' motor skills.