Albergoni Andrea, Biggio Monica, Faelli Emanuela, Ruggeri Piero, Avanzino Laura, Bove Marco, Bisio Ambra
Department of Neuroscience, Rehabilitation, Ophthalmology, Genetics and Maternal Child Health, Università Degli Studi di Genova, Genoa, Italy.
Centro Polifunzionale di Scienze Motorie, Università Degli Studi di Genova, Genoa, Italy.
Front Aging Neurosci. 2023 Aug 7;15:1216304. doi: 10.3389/fnagi.2023.1216304. eCollection 2023.
The ability to predict the weight of objects is important for skilled and dexterous manipulation during activities of daily living. The observation of other people moving objects might represent an important source of information on object features and help to plan the correct motor interaction with it. In aging, an impaired ability to evaluate the object weight might have negative drawbacks in term of the safety of the person. The aim of this study was to investigate the role of aging in the ability to discriminate the object weight during action observation. Twenty older adults (Old) and twenty young subjects (Young) performed a two-interval forced-choice task consisting in the observation of a couple of videos showing an actor moving a box of different weights. The observer had to evaluate which video showed the heavier box. Handgrip strength was acquired from all subjects. Sensitivity analysis was performed and psychometric curves were built on participants' responses. The results showed a diminished sensitivity in the object weight discrimination in Old than in Young group. The analysis of the psychometric curves revealed that this impairment pertained both the light and heavy boxes and the minimum difference to discriminate different weights was greater in Old than in Young. At last, the sensitivity and the discrimination ability significantly correlated with individuals' handgrip strength. These findings allow us to deeply characterize the impairments older adults have in discriminating the weight of an object moved by another individual.
预测物体重量的能力对于日常生活活动中的熟练和灵巧操作至关重要。观察他人移动物体可能是获取物体特征信息的重要来源，并有助于规划与之正确的运动交互。在衰老过程中，评估物体重量的能力受损可能会对个人安全产生负面影响。本研究的目的是调查衰老在动作观察过程中辨别物体重量能力方面的作用。二十名老年人（老年组）和二十名年轻受试者（青年组）进行了一项两间隔强制选择任务，该任务包括观察一对视频，视频中一名演员移动不同重量的盒子。观察者必须评估哪个视频展示的是较重的盒子。采集了所有受试者的握力。进行了敏感性分析，并根据参与者的反应绘制了心理测量曲线。结果显示，老年组在物体重量辨别方面的敏感性低于青年组。心理测量曲线分析表明，这种损伤在轻盒和重盒上都存在，并且老年组辨别不同重量的最小差异大于青年组。最后，敏感性和辨别能力与个体的握力显著相关。这些发现使我们能够深入描述老年人在辨别他人移动物体重量方面的损伤情况。
