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Ageing effects on visual reaction time in a single task condition and when treadmill walking

journal contribution
posted on 2006-07-01, 00:00 authored by W Sparrow, R Begg, Suzanne Parker
Visual reaction time (RT) was measured in 10 older men (mean age, 71.1 years) and gender-matched controls (mean age, 26.3 years) when standing (single task) and when walking on a motor-driven treadmill (dual task). There were 90 quasirandomly presented trials over 15 min in each condition. Longer mean and median RTs were observed in the dual task compared to the single task. Older males had significantly slower mean and median RTs (315 and 304 ms, respectively) than the younger group (273 and 266 ms, respectively) in both task conditions. There were no age or condition effects on with in-subject variability. Both groups showed a trend of increasing RT over the 90 single task trials but when walking only the younger group slowed. These novel findings demonstrate high but sustained attention by older adults when walking. It is proposed that the motor task's attentional demands might contribute to their slower preferred walking speed.

History

Journal

Motor control

Volume

10

Issue

3

Pagination

201 - 211

Publisher

Human Kinetics

Location

Champaign, Ill.

ISSN

1087-1640

eISSN

1543-2696

Language

eng

Publication classification

C1 Refereed article in a scholarly journal

Copyright notice

2006, Human Kinetics, Inc.

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