Motor Control Lab, Division of Food and Health Sciences, Faculty of Environmental and Symbiotic Sciences, Prefectural University of Kumamoto, Kumamoto City, Japan.
Med Sci Sports Exerc. 2010 Mar;42(3):449-55. doi: 10.1249/MSS.0b013e3181b7f3e1.
The maximum isometric force production capacity of the fingers decreases with age. However, little information is available on age-related changes in dynamic motor capacity of individual fingers. The purpose of this study was to compare the dynamic motor function of individual fingers between elderly and young adults using rapid single-finger and double-finger tapping.
Fourteen elderly and 14 young adults performed maximum frequency tapping by the index, middle, ring, or little finger (single-finger tapping) and with alternate movements of the index-middle, middle-ring, or ring-little finger-pair (double-finger tapping). The maximum pinch force between the thumb and each finger, tactile sensitivity of each fingertip, and time taken to complete a pegboard test were also measured.
Compared with young subjects, the older subjects had significantly slower tapping rates in all fingers and finger-pairs in the tapping tasks. The age-related decline was also observed in the tactile sensitivities of all fingers and in the pegboard test. However, there was no group difference in the pinch force of any finger. The tapping rate of each finger did not correlate with the pinch force or tactile sensitivity for the corresponding finger in the elderly subjects.
Maximum rate of finger tapping was lower in the elderly adults compared with the young adults. The decline of finger tapping ability in elderly adults seems to be less affected by their maximum force production capacities of the fingers as well as tactile sensitivities at the tips of the fingers.
手指的最大等长力量随着年龄的增长而下降。然而，关于个体手指动态运动能力与年龄相关的变化的信息却很少。本研究的目的是使用快速单指和双指叩击来比较老年人和年轻人个体手指的动态运动功能。
14 名老年人和 14 名年轻人分别用食指、中指、环指和小指（单指叩击），以及用食指-中指、中指-环指或环指-小指对指交替运动（双指叩击）进行最大频率叩击。还测量了拇指与每个手指之间的最大捏力、每个指尖的触觉灵敏度以及完成插板测试所花费的时间。
与年轻受试者相比，老年受试者在所有手指和叩击任务中的手指对中，叩击率明显较慢。在所有手指的触觉灵敏度和插板测试中，也观察到与年龄相关的下降。然而，在任何手指的捏力方面，两组之间没有差异。老年受试者的每个手指的叩击率与相应手指的最大捏力或触觉灵敏度均无相关性。
与年轻人相比，老年人的手指叩击率较低。老年人手指叩击能力的下降似乎与其手指的最大力量产生能力以及指尖的触觉灵敏度的影响较小。
