title: Effects of aging on control of timing and force of finger tapping.
abstract: The present study examined whether the elderly produced a hastened or delayed tap with a negative or positive constant intertap interval error more frequently in self-paced tapping than in the stimulus-synchronized tapping for the 2 N target force at 2 or 4 Hz frequency. The analysis showed that, at both frequencies, the percentage of the delayed tap was larger in the self-paced tapping than in the stimulus-synchronized tapping, whereas the hastened tap showed the opposite result. At the 4 Hz frequency, all age groups had more variable intertap intervals during the self-paced tapping than during the stimulus-synchronized tapping, and the variability of the intertap intervals increased with age. Thus, although the increase in the frequency of delayed taps and variable intertap intervals in the self-paced tapping perhaps resulted from a dysfunction of movement timing in the basal ganglia with age, the decline in timing accuracy was somewhat improved by an auditory cue. The force variability of tapping at 4 Hz further increased with age, indicating an effect of aging on the control of force.
authors.affiliation: Yamakami Hospital, Naruto, Japan.
authors.forename: Hirokazu
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Sasaki
authors.forename: Junya
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Masumoto
authors.forename: Nobuyuki
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Inui
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000375:Aging / Q000523:psychology*; D001288:Attention; D001696:Biomechanical Phenomena; D005260:Female; D018737:Hand Strength; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009043:Motor Activity; D011930:Reaction Time; D012815:Signal Processing, Computer-Assisted; D013998:Time Perception