Introduction Accompanying the natural advancing of age is a decline in cognitive and motor functions, which may be the result of altered neuroplasticity, due to changes in synaptic function and neurotransmission. Successful performance of routine, but complex motor tasks such as bimanual movements may require optimal synchronization of motor cortical areas, which decline with ageing. On the other hand, recent work has shown that transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) may be a useful tool to restitute these altered mechanisms, and improve performance of motor skills. Presently, we address the question of identifying physiological markers of age-related differences during acquisition of new bimanual motor control tasks, based on induced oscillatory changes, using EEG. Second, we assess whether performance of complex bimanual skills can be improved in the elderly using tDCS. Methods Experiment 1 : 43 healthy subjects (21 elderly) performed the bimanual tracking task (BTT), which is a complex task requiring multiple cognitive domains, as well as the skilled use of in-phase and anti-phase movements, at various frequencies. Three blocks of the task were performed (180 total trials) while EEG was recorded to measure task-induced power changes. Experiment 2 : An additional 40 subjects (20 elderly) were recruited for evaluating whether right M1 anodal tDCS (1.0 mA, 20 min) may improve performance in the task, particularly in the non-dominant left hand. The study was double-blinded, sham-controlled, and employed a randomized crossover design in order to assess tDCS-induced performance and task-induced synchronization differences between young and elderly groups. Results Experiment 1: Overall task performance in younger subjects was more accurate than in elderly. Younger subjects showed significantly stronger desynchronization in the mu and beta band, whereas older subjects showed greater gamma band activity in motor cortical areas. In addition, these patterns were also found to correlate inter-individually with accurate performance in the task. Experiment 2: ANOVA revealed a main effect of stimulation, which was significant between active and sham tDCS conditions in the elderly but not in young. Further exploratory analyses revealed significant improvements in both left and right hand coordination in active stimulation conditions for both groups of subjects, with the greatest improvement found in left-hand dominant motor movements in the elderly group. Conclusion We show that both task-induced oscillatory synchronization and inter-limb kinematics underlying bimanual motor coordination are different between the young and elderly. Further, a single session of tDCS applied to the motor cortex could significantly improve bimanual performance in the elderly. Although further studies are needed to optimize tDCS parameters for enhanced and prolonged effects, tDCS may be a viable tool in restituting the learning of complex motor functions in the aging or other vulnerable populations.