title: Effect of motor practice on dual-task performance in older adults.
abstract: The aim of this study was to determine the effects of motor practice on cognitive and motor performance in older adults under single- and dual-task conditions. Fourteen younger (19-28 years) and 12 older adults (67-75 years) performed a precision grip sine wave force-tracking and a working memory task under single- and dual-task conditions. Participants performed a pretest, 100 motor practice trials, and a post-test. In the force-tracking and cognitive task, young outperformed older adults. Motor practice improved force-tracking under single- and dual-task conditions for both groups. However, practice did not prevent a decline in motor performance for older adults when they moved from single- to dual-task conditions. After practice, older adults improved cognitive performance in dual-task conditions. Advances in age appear to be associated with a decrease in the ability to manage and coordinate multiple tasks, which remains after extended practice.
authors.affiliation: Jacobs Center for Lifelong Learning and Institutional Development, Jacobs University Bremen, Germany.
authors.forename: Claudia
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Voelcker-Rehage
authors.forename: Jay L
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Alberts
mesh_terms: D000203:Activities of Daily Living / Q000145:classification / Q000523:psychology; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000375:Aging / Q000523:psychology*; D001288:Attention; D001676:Biofeedback, Psychology; D005260:Female; D018737:Hand Strength; D006801:Humans; D007206:Individuality; D008297:Male; D008570:Memory, Short-Term; D008875:Middle Aged; D053580:Muscle Strength; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D011214:Practice, Psychological; D011597:Psychomotor Performance; D012016:Reference Values; D012691:Serial Learning; D013223:Statistics as Topic