Symposium – Cognitive control

Thursday 8th of May 11.15 – 12.45

Aula Magna

Adult Age Sensorimotor Performance: Constraints and Potentials for Adaptation 

Sensorimotor functions form the basis for mobility and communication both major factors determining optimal aging. Numerous studies have also demonstrated that sensorimotor and cognitive functions influence each other both at the level of individual aging trajectories and in settings requiring concurrent performances (multitasking). 

The papers presented in this symposium target adult-age development in real-life sensorimotor skills like postural control, walking and motor-sequencing. Particular attention is given to the interaction of cognitive- and sensorimotor functions and possible way to improve performances in the elderly. 

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Abstracts

Talk 1 – The influences of age and age simulation on implicit gross-motor sequence learning.

by Anna Lina Heggenberger

Authors: Anna Lina Heggenberger, Janine Vieweg, Sabine Schaefer

Saarland University, Saarbrücken, Germany 

This study examines the effects of age and age simulation on gross-motor sequence learning, focusing on acquisition, execution performance, explicit recall and retention. Participants were divided into five groups: young adults aged 18- 25 years without (n = 14) or with (n = 15) an age-simulation suit, middle-aged adults aged 30–60 years without (n = 15) or with (n = 15) the suit, and older adults aged 60–85 years without the suit (n = 15). The suit reduces sensory perception, joint flexibility, and strength. Participants performed a fixed 10-element gross-motor sequence task requiring full-body movements with 28 practice trials. Explicit sequence recall was evaluated after acquisition, and a retention test followed on day 2. All groups demonstrated implicit sequence learning and were able to keep up their performance levels from the end of acquisition to the retention test on day 2. However, young adults without the suit had the fastest execution times and highest explicit recall scores. The suit significantly impaired execution performance and explicit recall in both younger and middle-aged adults, indicating that peripheral impairments can hinder explicit memory formation even when implicit learning remains intact. These results underscore the importance of considering both cognitive and sensorimotor factors in motor learning across the lifespan.

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Talk 2 – Effects of length of adaptation on sensory reweighting and perceptual delays in healthy young and older adults.

by Mihalis Doumas

Author: Mihalis Doumas

School of Psychology, Queen’s University Belfast

Adaptation to new environments during upright standing, for example stepping on grass or sand, require sensory integration to maintain stability. Older adults’ ability to adapt to unstable postural environments is intact, but their ability to de-adapt from the unstable environment and to perceive subtle changes in the environment show age-related slowing. The aim of this study is to assess whether these effects reflect a common mechanism of age-related decline in sensory processing. Postural sway was assessed in 40 young (age 18-35) and 40 older adults (age 70+) during upright stance on a fixed surface with eyes closed (baseline, 2 minutes), followed by a sway-referenced surface (adaptation, short 1 minute or long 6 minutes) and then by a fixed surface again (reintegration, 3 minutes). Participants were asked to press a button whenever they perceived that the platform had started and stopped moving. Overall, older adults exhibited greater Anterior-Posterior sway path length. During adaptation, both groups showed a sway reduction, which was more pronounced in older adults, and in the long condition. Aftereffects were longer in the long adaptation condition, especially for older adults. Perceptual delays were longer for older adults but there were no differences between the short and long conditions. These findings suggest that the pronounced perceptual delay and postural sway aftereffects in older adults may be attributed to impaired sensory processing abilities, however the evidence for relationships between perceptual delays and postural aftereffects are inconclusive. 

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Talk 3 – Effects of hearing and cognitive impairment severity on responsiveness to cognitive and exercise training in persons with mild cognitive impairment.

by Karen Z. H. Li^1,2

Authors: Rachel Downey^1,2, Berkley Petersen^1,2, Niroshica Mohanathas^3,4, Jennifer L. Campos^3,4, Manuel-Montero-Odasso⁵, M.Kathleen Pichora-Fuller³, Louis Bherer^6,7,8, Maxime Lussier^5,7, Natalie A. Phillips^1,2, Karen Z. H. Li^1,2

¹ Department of Psychology, Concordia University, Montréal, Québec, Canada

² PERFORM Centre, Concordia University, Montréal, Québec, Canada

³ Department of Psychology, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada

⁴ KITE-Toronto Rehabilitation Institute, University Health Network, Toronto, Ontario, Canada

⁵ Department of Medicine, Division of Geriatric Medicine, Schulich School of Medicine & Dentistry, University of Western Ontario, London, Canada 

⁶ Département de Médecine, Université de Montréal, Montréal, Québec, Canada

⁷ Centre de recherche de l’Institut de cardiologie de Montréal, Montréal, Québec, Canada

⁸ Centre de recherche de l’Institut universitaire de gériatrie de Montréal, Montréal, Québec, Canada

Background: In older adults, cognitive and exercise training appears to improve cognitive-motor dual tasking (e.g., walking while performing a cognitive task). Impairments of hearing and cognition are linked with poor dual-task performance. However, it is unclear whether the severity of hearing or cognitive impairment moderates training efficacy. Methods: Secondary data analyses were performed with data from 75 participants with mild cognitive impairment (Mage = 73.66 ± 6.67 years). We investigated how subjective and objective hearing loss severity moderated the efficacy of a 20-week intervention trial. Participants completed Combined (ex + cog), Exercise (ex + sham cog), or Placebo (stretching + sham cog) training. Primary outcomes were measures of dual-task cognition and gait. Results: At baseline, greater subjective and objective hearing impairment severity predicted poorer dual-task gait and cognitive performance, for males.  Dual-task gait variability only improved following Combined training in participants with greater subjective hearing loss. In participants with poorer subjective and objective hearing, lower cognitive performance (MoCA) predicted greater dual-task gait improvement following Combined training, and worsened gait following Placebo training. Conclusions: These results encourage a consideration of participant characteristics in order to better design training programs for older adults with mild cognitive impairment with or without hearing loss.

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Talk 4 – Listening and postural control as multi-tasking challenges for middle-aged and older adults

By Ralf Krampe¹

Authors: Ralf Krampe¹, Mira van Wilderode², Nathan Van Humbeeck¹, Astrid van Wieringen²

¹ Brain & Cognition Group, Faculty for Psychology & Education, University of Leuven, Belgium

² Department of Neurosciences, Research Group Experimental ORL, University of Leuven, Belgium

We present data from three studies in which young, middle-aged and older adults performed auditory listening tasks concurrently with postural control tasks. Our experiments were inspired by naturalistic performance demands as they arise during a conversation at a reception. Processing demands of listening tasks either required speech identification or complex listening (memorizing words that were voiced by constant or alternating speakers). We use stabilogram-diffusion modelling to identify the component postural control processes affected by multitasking. 

Results showed that even if cognitive demands of the listening task were minimal, postural control and listening interfered in middle-aged and older adults. Under ideal conditions (stable stance) middle-aged adults showed similar stability as young adults. However, concurrent complex listening demands disturbed their error correction such that stability suffered in multitasking conditions. In the third study middle-aged and older adults with speech-in-noise problems underwent intensive competing talker training. The intervention led to robust improvements in the trained task and transfer to speech-in noise tasks. Importantly, multitasking costs in concurrent postural control tasks at pre-test were reduced through listening training.

Our findings demonstrate that vulnerability of sensorimotor processes to multitasking occurs as early as middle adulthood. Early interventions can help to adapt to related everyday challenges.