Impact of Exercise in Community-Dwelling Older Adults

Abstract

Background. The decline of motor performance of the human hand-arm system with age is well-documented. While dominant hand performance is superior to that of the non-dominant hand in young individuals, little is known of possible age-related changes in hand dominance. We investigated age-related alterations of hand dominance in 20 to 90 year old subjects. All subjects were unambiguously right-handed according to the Edinburgh Handedness Inventory. In Experiment 1, motor performance for aiming, postural tremor, precision of arm-hand movement, speed of arm-hand movement, and wrist-finger speed tasks were tested. In Experiment 2, accelerometer-sensors were used to obtain objective records of hand use in everyday activities. Principal Findings. Our data confirm previous findings of a general task-dependent decline in motor performance with age. Analysis of the relationship between right/left-hand performances using a laterality index showed a loss of right hand dominance with advancing age. The clear right-hand advantage present at younger ages changed to a more balanced performance in advanced age. This shift was due to a more pronounced age-related decline of right hand performance. Accelerometer-sensor measurements supported these findings by demonstrating that the frequency of hand use also shifted from a clear right hand preference in young adults to a more balanced usage of both hands in old age. Despite these agerelated changes in the relative level of performance in defined motor tasks and in the frequency of hand use, elderly subjects continued to rate themselves as unambiguous right-handers. Conclusion. The discrepancy between hand-specific practical performance in controlled motor tests as well as under everyday conditions and the results of questionnaires concerning hand use and hand dominance suggests that most elderly subjects are unaware of the changes in hand dominance that occur over their lifespan, i.e., a shift to ambidexterity.

History, development and current advances concerning the evolutionary roots of human right‐handedness and language: Brain lateralisation and manual laterality in non‐human primates

“…By considering several categories of age (immature, adolescent, young and mature adult and elder), Prieur et al () and Prieur, Pika, Blois‐Heulin, and Barbu () recently showed that chimpanzees’ right‐hand use increased with age, but until the shift in elderly: older chimpanzees were less right‐handed than adolescents, young and mature adults for both non‐communication actions (use of a stick to obtain out‐of‐reach food) and gestures. A similar decrease of right‐hand use with age has been reported for humans (Kalisch, Wilimzig, Kleibel, Tegenthoff, & Dinse, ). However, as far as we know, our study was the first to evidence a possible senescence effect on non‐human primates’ manual laterality for both non‐communication actions and gestures.…”

Age-related changes in the motor planning strategy slow down motor initiation in elderly adults

“…To address the issue, we considered the differences in cortical activity during the 35 controlled execution of fine motor tasks between elderly adults and young adults using 36 electroencephalography (EEG). Consistent with the dedifferentiation theory [8,17], we 37 found that the motor cortex of younger adults activated much faster during the 38 dominant hand task, while in elderly adults, the time required for motor activation was 39 equal for both hands and approached the level of the non-dominant hand of younger 40 adults. Further, as expected, we found significant differences in cortical activation 41 during the time interval preceding the motor action.…”

A multifactorial investigation of captive chimpanzees' intraspecific gestural laterality

“…immatures. This decrease in right-hand use by elderly subjects has already been documented in humans (Kalisch et al 2006). A reason might be that physical limitations and lower activity associated with ageing could decrease the practice-based performance of the right hand that would thus converge towards the performance of the left hand (humans: Hughes et al 1997;Schut 1998;Ranganathan et al 2001).…”