Abstract
PurposeThe aim of the current meta-analysis was to examine the extent to which there are differences in upper extremity motor synergies across different age groups in manipulative tasks.MethodsThe studies that used the uncontrolled manifold method to examine the effect of age on motor synergies in multi-joint and multi-finger tasks were selected. Sixteen relevant studies from 1154 articles were selected for the meta-analysis—4 and 12 studies considered multi-joint kinematics and multi-finger kinetic tasks respectively.ResultsThe results of the meta-analysis suggested reduced strength of synergies in multi-finger task in older adults, but this was not the case for synergies in multi-joint task. Part of this age-related difference in finger function is related to the increased variability in total force in grasping tasks. However, reductions in the strength of multi-finger synergies in hand functions following ageing appear to depend on the characteristics of the task.ConclusionsThese findings indicate that the cooperation among fingers to stabilise the total required force to apply for grasping and other fine motor skills is less efficient in older adults that might affect the quality of manipulative tasks.
Highlights
Participation in activities of daily living (ADL) has a significant impact on the mental health and physical fitness of older adults (Hasselkus 2002; Wilcock 1998)
The upper limbs play an important role in manipulative tasks as they are usually involved in reaching, catching and grasping (Verrel et al 2012)
The results of this study showed that there was no significant difference between young and older adults in manipulative tasks that require kinematic synergies in multi-joint tasks
Summary
Participation in activities of daily living (ADL) has a significant impact on the mental health and physical fitness of older adults (Hasselkus 2002; Wilcock 1998). The upper limbs play an important role in manipulative tasks as they are usually involved in reaching, catching and grasping (Verrel et al 2012). These movements require the coordination of multiple body segments, often with. The main task of the CNS is to move the multi-segment unit—including shoulder, elbow and wrist— towards the target to complete the task with low end-effector position variability. If the target is moving unpredictably, the segments in the synergy are re-shaped to maximise end-effector accuracy. Motor abundance theory (Gelfand and Latash 1998) suggests that providing motor variability is an important role of the CNS to ensure that adjustments occur in response to changing environmental and task demands (Latash 2012)
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