Schaefer Sydney Y, Duff Kevin
Motor Rehabilitation and Learning Laboratory, Utah State University Logan, UT, USA ; Department of Physical Therapy, University of Utah Salt Lake City, UT, USA ; Center on Aging, University of Utah Salt Lake City, UT, USA.
Center on Aging, University of Utah Salt Lake City, UT, USA ; Department of Neurology, University of Utah Salt Lake City, UT, USA ; Center for Alzheimer's Care, Imaging and Research, University of Utah Salt Lake City, UT, USA.
Front Aging Neurosci. 2015 Nov 18;7:214. doi: 10.3389/fnagi.2015.00214. eCollection 2015.
Skill acquisition is a form of motor learning that may provide key insights into the aging brain. Although previous work suggests that older adults learn novel motor tasks slower and to a lesser extent than younger adults, we have recently demonstrated no significant effect of chronological age on the rates and amounts of skill acquisition, nor on its long-term retention, in adults over the age of 65. To better understand predictors of skill acquisition in non-demented older adults, we now explore the relationship between early improvements in motor performance due to practice (i.e., rapid responsiveness) and longer-term retention of an upper extremity motor skill, and whether the extent of rapid responsiveness was associated with global cognitive status. Results showed significant improvements in motor performance within the first five (of 150) trials, and that this "rapid responsiveness" was predictive of skill retention 1 month later. Notably, the extent of rapid responsiveness was not dependent on global cognitive status, as measured by the Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA). Thus, rapid responsiveness appears to be an important variable in longer-term neurorehabilitative efforts with older adults, regardless of their cognitive status.
技能习得是一种运动学习形式，可能为了解衰老大脑提供关键见解。尽管先前的研究表明，老年人学习新的运动任务比年轻人更慢且程度更低，但我们最近证明，在65岁以上的成年人中，实际年龄对技能习得的速度和数量及其长期保持没有显著影响。为了更好地理解非痴呆老年人技能习得的预测因素，我们现在探讨因练习导致的运动表现早期改善（即快速反应能力）与上肢运动技能的长期保持之间的关系，以及快速反应能力的程度是否与整体认知状态相关。结果显示，在（150次中的）前五次试验中运动表现有显著改善，并且这种“快速反应能力”可预测1个月后的技能保持情况。值得注意的是，快速反应能力的程度并不依赖于通过蒙特利尔认知评估（MoCA）测量的整体认知状态。因此，无论认知状态如何，快速反应能力似乎都是对老年人进行长期神经康复训练的一个重要变量。
