Abstract
Older adults adapt the execution of complex motor tasks to use compensatory strategies in the reaching-to-grasping (i.e., prehension) movement. The presence of postural constraints may exacerbate these compensatory strategies. Therefore, we investigated the reach-to-grasp action with different postural constraints (sitting, standing, and walking) in younger and older people and evaluated the postural stability during the reach-to-grasp action. Thirty individuals (15 younger and 15 older adults) performed the prehension under three postural tasks: sitting, standing, and walking. The reaching movement was slower in the walking task than in the other two postural tasks; however, there was no difference between the age groups. For the grasping action, the older adults presented a larger grip aperture, and the peak grip aperture occurred earlier during hand transportation in sitting and standing tasks. In the standing task, the margin of stability was smaller for older adults. In the walking task, there was no difference between the groups for the margin of stability. Also, prehension during sitting and standing tasks were similar, and both differed from walking across age groups. Finally, older adults reduced their margin of stability compared to younger adults, but only in the standing task. The margin of stability was similar between age groups during the walking task. We concluded that age affected grasping (distal component) but not reaching (proximal component), suggesting that healthy older adults have more difficulty controlling distal than proximal body segments.
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The authors would like to acknowledge Eduardo Bergonzoni Junqueira for helping with equipment training and data collection.
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This study was financed in part by the Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior—Brazil (CAPES)—Finance Code 001 (Eduardo G. Campoi and Henrique G. Campoi), and the National Council for Scientific and Technological Development (CNPq – Brazil – Grant Number: 303988/2019–3, Renato Moraes).
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Conceptualization: EGC, RM. Methodology: EGC, HGC, RMs. Investigation: EGC, HGC. Project administration: EGC, HGC, RM. Data curation: EGC. Software: RM. Formal analysis: EGC, HGC, RM. Visualization: EGC, HGC, RM. Writing—original draft: EGC, HGC, RM. Writing—review and editing: RM. Funding acquisition: RM. Resources: RM. Supervision: RM.
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Campoi, E.G., Campoi, H.G. & Moraes, R. The effects of age and postural constraints on prehension. Exp Brain Res 241, 1847–1859 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00221-023-06647-0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00221-023-06647-0