title: Movement kinematics of prepotent response suppression in aging during conflict adaptation.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The purpose of the current study was to explore the role of adjustments in motor control and conflict adaptation in younger and older adults' prepotent response suppression.
  
  
  METHODS
  Participants performed repeated pairs of key-presses on a piano-type keyboard as well as key-presses that conflicted with that prepotent pair. We used motion capture to assess cognitive and motor contributions to conflicting responses presented once, twice, or three times within single trials.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Older adults performed the first conflicting response in a series as well as young adults but at a cost to prepotent response performance. Younger adults improved performance with increased conflict frequency, whereas older adults did not. Older adults spent less time planning and more time executing their conflicting responses, with the opposite pattern in younger adults.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Overall, increasing the frequency of conflicting response presentation was detrimental to older but not to younger adults' prepotent response performance. In addition, the results indicate an age-related decline in conflict adaptation. The results are discussed in terms of current models of cognitive control.
authors.affiliation: Center for Research in Human Development, Department of Psychology, Concordia University, 7141 Sherbrooke St. West, Montreal, Quebec, Canada H4B 1R6. ktrewartha81@gmail.com
authors.forename: Kevin M
authors.initials: KM
authors.lastname: Trewartha
authors.forename: Virginia B
authors.initials: VB
authors.lastname: Penhune
authors.forename: Karen Z H
authors.initials: KZ
authors.lastname: Li
mesh_terms: D000223:Adaptation, Psychological; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000375:Aging / Q000523:psychology*; D001288:Attention; D001696:Biomechanical Phenomena; D003220:Conflict, Psychological; D005260:Female; D006185:Habituation, Psychophysiologic; D006801:Humans; D007266:Inhibition, Psychological; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011597:Psychomotor Performance; D011930:Reaction Time; D012691:Serial Learning; D055815:Young Adult