Premium
MOVEMENT IN DECLINE? OSCILLATORY MOVEMENT DISPLACEMENT THRESHOLDS INCREASE WITH AGEING *
Author(s) -
Buckingham Terry,
Whitaker David,
Banford Denise
Publication year - 1987
Publication title -
ophthalmic and physiological optics
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.147
H-Index - 66
eISSN - 1475-1313
pISSN - 0275-5408
DOI - 10.1111/j.1475-1313.1987.tb00770.x
Subject(s) - ageing , movement (music) , displacement (psychology) , physical medicine and rehabilitation , psychology , medicine , physics , acoustics , psychotherapist
— Displacement thresholds for continuous oscillatory movement were determined for ten subjects in each of three age groups—20–23, 40–55 and 60–80 years. Oscillation frequencies of 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13 and 20 Hz were used, all subjects having a corrected visual acuity of 6/5. A randomized block factorial design of analysis of variance revealed significant effects of both temporal frequency of oscillation ( F 6,189 = 4.10, p < 0.001)and age ( F 2,189 = 46.98, p ≪ 0.001). The deterioration in movement sensitivity occurs equally at both high and low temporal frequencies—no significant interaction effects being revealed ( F 12,189 = 0.45, p = not significant). The frequency effects are ascribed to underlying mechanisms mediating movement perception. Reasons for decreased movement sensitivity with increasing age are discussed.