Pantomimes and aging.

The goal of this study was to verify the evolution of pantomiming in normal aged subjects in comparison to normal younger adults. Ninety-six subjects participated in this study: 30 between the ages of 20 and 30; 30 between the ages of 40 and 50; and 36 between the ages of 60 and 82. The subjects were required to execute 42 pantomimes on verbal command. The executed gestures were divided into two categories and analyzed separately: (a) the static constituents which refer to the shape the subject gave to the body part(s) involved; and (b) the dynamic constituents which refer to the executed action and to the relations established between several static constituents during the execution. The results showed that the aged subjects' performance was different from the younger subjects' performance principally in the static constituents of self-oriented one-hand gestures where the aged subjects used a part of their body to serve as the absent object.