Age-related Group Differences Research Articles

Influence of Pre-Shooting Activity on Three-Points Jump Shot Parameters Between Junior and Senior Regional Level Basketball Players

The aims of this study were: 1. to investigate the influence of pre-shooting activity on the three-point jump shot entry angle and release time in regional level basketball players; 2. to examine age related differences in these parameters between juniors and seniors. Thirty three perimeter players , were assigned to juniors (n=16, age=17.34±0.54 years; height=191.3±8.18 cm; weight= 77.08±7.41 training experience=6.75±2.30 years) and seniors (n=17, age=22.79±4.47 years; height =194.4±7.47 cm; weight= 80.42±7.45d; training experience= 12.18±3.17 years) had three sets of 5 shots, with a different preparatory phase for every set: 1. spot shot, 2. after two forward steps, or 3. after one dribble. Only successful shots (n= 233) were analyzed. The difference between groups was determined with ANOVA, while the differences in shot accuracy were determined by the chi-square test. Study results reported no statistically significant differences in entry angle and release time for 3 different pre-shooting patterns. Seniors had significantly higher shooting accuracy (X2=3.097; p=0.048, φ=-0.089) higher entry angle (p < 0.001) and lower release time (p < 0.001) than juniors for all successful shots combined, and significantly higher (p < 0.001) entry angle for every set independently. Significant difference in shooting accuracy with medium effect size (X2= 6.645; p=0.010, φ=-0.20) was observed in shots after movement. Seniors had statistically lower release time for set 1 (p=0.004) and 2 (p=0.002) independently. Age-related group differences in shooting parameters should be considered to optimize training prescription for basketball players.

Tract- and gray matter- based spatial statistics show white matter and gray matter microstructural differences in autistic males.

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a neurodevelopmental condition commonly studied in the context of early childhood. As ASD is a life-long condition, understanding the characteristics of brain microstructure from adolescence into adulthood and associations to clinical features is critical for improving outcomes across the lifespan. In the current work, we utilized Tract Based Spatial Statistics (TBSS) and Gray Matter Based Spatial Statistics (GBSS) to examine the white matter (WM) and gray matter (GM) microstructure in neurotypical (NT) and autistic males. Multi-shell diffusion MRI was acquired from 78 autistic and 81 NT males (12-to-46-years) and fit to the DTI and NODDI diffusion models. TBSS and GBSS were performed to analyze WM and GM microstructure, respectively. General linear models were used to investigate group and age-related group differences. Within the ASD group, relationships between WM and GM microstructure and measures of autistic symptoms were investigated. All dMRI measures were significantly associated with age across WM and GM. Significant group differences were observed across WM and GM. No significant age-by-group interactions were detected. Within the ASD group, positive relationships with WM microstructure were observed with ADOS-2 Calibrated Severity Scores. Using TBSS and GBSS our findings provide new insights into group differences of WM and GM microstructure in autistic males from adolescence into adulthood. Detection of microstructural differences across the lifespan as well as their relationship to the level of autistic symptoms will deepen to our understanding of brain-behavior relationships of ASD and may aid in the improvement of intervention options for autistic adults.

Age-related differences in the quantitative analysis of the finger tapping task.

BACKGROUND: Quantitative measures of the finger tapping task is important for objective assessment of bradykinesia. However, age-related changes in quantitative measures are still unclear.OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to quantitatively investigate age-related group differences in finger tapping performance.METHODS: Eighty-three healthy normal subjects with age ranging from aged 20 to 89 years participated in this study. All subjects were instructed to tap their index finger and thumbs as rapidly as possible and with as large amplitude as possible. Angular velocity of the finger tapping movement was measured using a gyrosensor. Quantitative variables include root mean squared (RMS) angular velocity, RMS angular displacement, peak power and peak frequency derived from angular velocity signals.RESULTS: Significant age-related differences were observed in RMS angular velocity, peak power and peak frequency ( 0.001). Specifically, the oldest age group had the slowest average speed, the lowest peak power and peak frequency. These results indicate deterioration in finger speed, intensity of the main movement component and tapping frequency due to aging.CONCLUSIONS: The results suggest that the quantitative variables should be adjusted for age when clinicians assess Parkinsonian bradykinesia. The results contribute to the development of an accurate and quantitative assessment tool for bradykinesia.

Human Rights in Older Age: A Critical Reflection of the Debate Around a UN Convention on the Rights of Older Persons

In recent years ageism has received increase international attention. In 2016 the UN dedicated the International Day of Older Persons to the fight against ageism and the World Heath Organization launched a campaign to combat ageism. This growing interest is also illustrated by the establishment of the UN Open-Ended Working Group on Ageing, and the related work on a UN convention on the rights of older persons, which, among other things, aims to provide better protection against discrimination. The ongoing discussions about a convention is accompanied by tensions between views assuming an older persons’ specific convention may reproduce age-related group differences and could perpetuate ageism, and those who argue that it will help reducing it. This article critically reflects on these discussions and some aspects of a potential convention that could provide basis for ageism critique. We refer to central sociological and legal arguments of the debate around ageism and age-based distinctions, which show clear intersections, e.g. the legal discussion one the justifiability of the general use of "age limits" and the socio-scientific debate on the relationship between age categorization and ageism. These intersections serve as central starting point for the question whether and to what extent age group differentiation and targeted human rights protection may (re-)produce ageism. Finally, we argue in favor of re-framing the debate about a convention on the rights of older persons towards a more universalist approach, which addresses possible age inequalities and critically reflects on the connection between chronological age and targeted human rights provisions.

Assessment of Sit-to-Stand Transfers during Daily Life Using an Accelerometer on the Lower Back.

The ability to perform sit-to-stand (STS) transfers has a significant impact on the functional mobility of an individual. Wearable technology has the potential to enable the objective, long-term monitoring of STS transfers during daily life. However, despite several recent efforts, most algorithms for detecting STS transfers rely on multiple sensing modalities or device locations and have predominantly been used for assessment during the performance of prescribed tasks in a lab setting. A novel wavelet-based algorithm for detecting STS transfers from data recorded using an accelerometer on the lower back is presented herein. The proposed algorithm is independent of device orientation and was validated on data captured in the lab from younger and older healthy adults as well as in people with Parkinson’s disease (PwPD). The algorithm was then used for processing data captured in free-living conditions to assess the ability of multiple features extracted from STS transfers to detect age-related group differences and assess the impact of monitoring duration on the reliability of measurements. The results show that performance of the proposed algorithm was comparable or significantly better than that of a commercially available system (precision: vs. in healthy adults) and a previously published algorithm (precision: vs. in persons with Parkinson’s disease). Moreover, features extracted from STS transfers at home were able to detect age-related group differences at a higher level of significance compared to data captured in the lab during the performance of prescribed tasks. Finally, simulation results showed that a monitoring duration of 3 days was sufficient to achieve good reliability for measurement of STS features. These results point towards the feasibility of using a single accelerometer on the lower back for detection and assessment of STS transfers during daily life. Future work in different patient populations is needed to evaluate the performance of the proposed algorithm, as well as assess the sensitivity and reliability of the STS features.

Age and environment-related differences in gait in healthy adults using wearables

Technological advances in multimodal wearable and connected devices have enabled the measurement of human movement and physiology in naturalistic settings. The ability to collect continuous activity monitoring data with digital devices in real-world environments has opened unprecedented opportunity to establish clinical digital phenotypes across diseases. Many traditional assessments of physical function utilized in clinical trials are limited because they are episodic, therefore, cannot capture the day-to-day temporal fluctuations and longitudinal changes in activity that individuals experience. In order to understand the sensitivity of gait speed as a potential endpoint for clinical trials, we investigated the use of digital devices during traditional clinical assessments and in real-world environments in a group of healthy younger (n = 33, 18–40 years) and older (n = 32, 65–85 years) adults. We observed good agreement between gait speed estimated using a lumbar-mounted accelerometer and gold standard system during the performance of traditional gait assessment task in-lab, and saw discrepancies between in-lab and at-home gait speed. We found that gait speed estimated in-lab, with or without digital devices, failed to differentiate between the age groups, whereas gait speed derived during at-home monitoring was able to distinguish the age groups. Furthermore, we found that only three days of at-home monitoring was sufficient to reliably estimate gait speed in our population, and still capture age-related group differences. Our results suggest that gait speed derived from activities during daily life using data from wearable devices may have the potential to transform clinical trials by non-invasively and unobtrusively providing a more objective and naturalistic measure of functional ability.

Institutional adjustment of young adults undergoing forensic assessment

ABSTRACT Adolescence and emerging adulthood are considered distinct developmental periods and times of peak criminal offending and onset of many major mental disorders. Previous research suggests that adolescents and young adults in adult correctional institutions adjust more poorly than their older counterparts do, and psychosocial adjustment is associated with pre-existing vulnerability. Research with institutionalized young adults is sparse. We studied institutional and psychosocial adjustment of men admitted to a forensic psychiatric hospital. Overall, younger age on admission was associated with previous vulnerability (i.e. adverse childhood experiences) and institutional adjustment (e.g. assaults, management problems), but not psychosocial adjustment (i.e. mood problems, psychosis, social withdrawal). Age had small and inconsistent effects on adjustment measures in regression analyses controlling for length of stay. Comparing the 141 young adults aged 18–24 with 141 men aged 25–59 matched on pre-admission psychiatric and criminal history did not yield age-related group differences. The apparent poorer adjustment of young adults may be attributable to younger onset of psychiatric and criminal justice involvement, resulting in earlier admission to the institution.

Differential Signatures of Second Language Syntactic Performance and Age on the Structural Properties of the Left Dorsal Pathway.

In adult second language (L2) acquisition, individual differences are considerably large even among people with similar experiences. The neural mechanisms underlying this variability would include structural plasticity of language-related pathways. To elucidate such neuroplasticity, we focused on the transitional period of adolescence, which is associated with certain plasticity toward maturation following the sensitive period of language acquisition (≤12 years old). The adolescent brain would thus be influenced by age-dependent factors, as well as performances in L2. Here, we examined individual differences in L2 performances controlling the duration of experience to reveal the differential signatures of performances and age on the plasticity of structural properties in major language-related pathways. We recruited Japanese students at two ages, i.e., junior (age: 13–14) and senior (age: 16–17) high-school students, all of whom started to expose to English at age 12 or 13. We divided them into subgroups, so that either L2 performance [Junior (High)/Senior (Low)] or age [Senior (Low)/Senior (High)] was matched in group comparisons; the duration of L2 experience was also controlled between the Senior (Low) and Senior (High) groups. We then examined the thickness and fractional anisotropy (FA) of the dorsal and ventral pathways, i.e., the arcuate fasciculus (Arcuate) and inferior fronto-occipital fasciculus (IFOF), respectively, using semi-automatic methods for selecting regions without branches. Regarding FA in the left Arcuate, the Senior (High) group showed significantly higher FA than the other two groups, indicating performance-related group differences. Further, FA in the left Arcuate was selectively correlated with the accuracy of a syntactic task. Regarding the thickness of the left Arcuate, the Senior (High) and Senior (Low) groups showed significantly larger thickness than the Junior (High) group, indicating age-related group differences. These differential performance-related and age-related signatures were evident on the left Arcuate alone, in contrast to the right Arcuate that showed only mild differences in thickness, and to the bilateral IFOF that lacked either signature. Our results suggest that the left dorsal pathway continued to develop to adolescence, and that performance differences in a syntactic task can be predicted by its FA, independent of age and the duration of experience.

Diurnal cortisol after early institutional care—Age matters

Several studies have shown that young children who have experienced early caregiving adversity (e.g. previously institutionalization (PI)) exhibit flattened diurnal cortisol slopes; however, less is known about how these patterns might differ between children and adolescents, since the transition between childhood and adolescence is a time of purported plasticity in the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis. PI youth experience a massive improvement in caregiving environment once adopted into families; therefore we anticipated that a developmental increase in HPA axis plasticity during adolescence might additionally allow for an enhanced enrichment effect by the adoptive family. In a cross-sectional sample of 197 youths (PI and Comparison; 4–15 years old) we observed age-related group differences in diurnal slope. First replicating previous findings, PI children exhibited flattened diurnal slope. This group difference, however, was not observed in adolescents. Moderation analyses showed that pubertal development, increased time with family, and early adoption contributed to the steeper diurnal cortisol slope in PI adolescents. These findings add support to existing theories positing that the transition between middle childhood and adolescence may mark an additional sensitive period for diurnal cortisol patterning, allowing PI youth to benefit from the enriched environment provided by adoptive parents during this period of development.

Upper extremity kinematic and kinetic adaptations during a fatiguing repetitive task

Repetitive low-force contractions are common in the workplace and yet can lead to muscle fatigue and work-related musculoskeletal disorders. The current study aimed to investigate potential motion adaptations during a simulated repetitive light assembly work task designed to fatigue the shoulder region, focusing on changes over time and age-related group differences. Ten younger and ten older participants performed four 20-min task sessions separated by short breaks. Mean and variability of joint angles and scapular elevation, joint net moments for the shoulder, elbow, and wrist were calculated from upper extremity kinematics recorded by a motion tracking system. Results showed that joint angle and joint torque decreased across sessions and across multiple joints and segments. Increased kinematic variability over time was observed in the shoulder joint; however, decreased kinematic variability over time was seen in the more distal part of the upper limb. The changes of motion adaptations were sensitive to the task-break schedule. The results suggested that kinematic and kinetic adaptations occurred to reduce the biomechanical loading on the fatigued shoulder region. In addition, the kinematic and kinetic responses at the elbow and wrist joints also changed, possibly to compensate for the increased variability caused by the shoulder joint while still maintaining task requirements. These motion strategies in responses to muscle fatigue were similar between two age groups although the older group showed more effort in adaptation than the younger in terms of magnitude and affected body parts.