Abstract
Age-related changes were investigated in the control of precision grip force during the lifting and holding of objects with slippery (silk) and nonslippery (sandpaper) surface textures. Two groups of active elderly adults comprising individuals aged 69–79 years (n = 10), and 80–93 years (n = 10) together with a group of young adults aged 18–32 years (n = 10) participated in the study. Each subject lifted a free weight (3N) during which time gripping and lifting forces were monitored. The elderly subjects, especially the individuals in the 81–93 year group, had a larger number of fluctuations in the grip force rate curve and longer force application time than the younger subjects during lifting. The effect of prior experience with one surface on the following different surface was more pronounced in the younger subjects than the elderly subjects. These results suggest a decline in programmed force production capacity with increased age. The fingers of the elderly subjects were more slippery and they exhibited a greater safety margin of the grip force while holding the object than the younger adults. The overall results demonstrated that precision grip force control capacity declines with advancing age. It is suggested that this decline is due mainly to age-related changes in skin properties, and cutaneous sensibility functions, and in part to central nervous system function.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Bolton CF, Winkelmann MD, Dyck PJ (1966) A quantitative study of Meissner's corpuscles in man. Neurology 16:1–19
Brody H (1955) Organization of cerebral cortex III: a study of aging in the human cerebral cortex. J Comp Neurol 102:511–556
Brody H (1970) Structural changes in the aging nervous system. Interdiscip Top Gerontol 7:9–21
Buys EJ, Lemon RN, Mantel GW, Muir RB (1986) Selective facilitation of different hand muscles by single corticospinal neurones in the conscious monkey. J Physiol (Lond) 381:529–550
Cadoret G, Smith AM (1995) Input-output properties of hand-related cells in the ventral cingulate cortex in the monkey. Exp Brain Res 73:2584–2590
Campbell MJ, McComas AJ, Petito F (1973) Physiological changes in ageing muscle. J Neurol Neurosurg Psychiatry 36:174–182
Cauna N (1965) The effects of aging on the receptor organs of the human dermis. In: Montagna W (ed) Advance in biology of skin: aging. 6. Pergamon press New York, pp 63–96
Cole KJ (1990) Moderately impaired hand-sensibility affects grasp force regulation. Soc Neurosci Abstracts 16:1086
Cole KJ (1991) Grasp force control in older adults. J Mot Behav 23:251–258
Cook JD, Brown SH, Cunningham DA (1989) Kinematics of arm movements in elderly humans. Neurol Aging 10:159–165
Denny Brown DE (1966) The cerebral control of movement. Liverpol University Press, Liverpool.
Espinoza E, Smith AM (1990) Purkinje cell simple spike activity during grasping and lifting objects of different textures and weights. J Neurophysiol 64:698–714
Forssberg H, Eliasson AC, Kinoshita H, Johansson RS, Westling G (1991) Development of human precision grip. I. Basic coordingation of forces. Exp Brain Res 85:451–457
Galganski ME, Fuglevand AJ, Enoka RM (1993) Reduced control of motor output in a human hand muscle of elderly subjects during submaximal contractions. J Neurophysiol 69:2108–2115.
Greenough W, Green E (1981) Experience and the changing brain. In: March J (ed) Aging: biology and behavior. Academic Press, New York, pp159–199
Hackel ME, Wolfe GA, Bang SM, Canfield JS (1992) Changes in hand function in the aging adult as determined by the Jebsen Test of Hand Function. Phys Ther 72:373–377
Hager-Ross C (1995) To grip and not to slip, sensorimotor mechanisms during reactive control of grasp stability. Umeå University Medical Dissertations; New Series no. 429, pp1–34
Hall TC, Miller AKH, Corsellis JAN (1975) Variations in human Purkinje cell population according to age and sex. Neuropathol Appl Neurobiol 1:267–297
Henderson G, Tomlinson BE, Gibson PH (1980) Cell counts in human cereberal cortex in normal adults throughout life using an image analyzing computer. J Neurol Sci 46:113–136
Hunter R, Ridley A, Malleson A (1969) Messner corpuscles in skin biopsies of patients with prehensile dementia: a quantitative study. Br J Neurophysiol 86:49–60
Huttenlocher P (1979) Synaptic density in human frontal cortex developmental changes and effects of aging. Brain Res 163:195–205
Johansson RS (1991) How is grasping modified by somatosensory input? In: Humphrey DR, Freund HJ (eds) Motor control: concepts and issues. John Wiley & Sons, Chichester New York Brisbane, pp 331–355
Johansson RS, Westling G (1984) Role of glabrous skin receptors and sensorimotor memory in automatic control of precision grip when lifting rougher or more slippery objects. Exp Brain Res 56:550–564
Johansson RS, Westling G (1987) Signals in tactile afferents from the fingers eliciting adaptive motor responses during precision grip. Exp Brain Res 66:141–154
Juniper K, Dykman RA (1967) Skin resistance, sweat glant counts, salivary flow and gastric secretions: age, race, and sex differences and intercorrelations. Psychophysiology 4:216–222
Kanda K, Hashizume K (1989) Changes in properties of the medial gastrocnemius motor units in aging rats. J Neurophysiol 61:737–746
Kawai S, Kinoshita H, Ikuta K (1995) Effects of varied surface conditions on regulation of grip force during holding tasks using a precision grip (in Japanese with English abstract). Jpn J Phys Fitness Sport Med 40:519–530
Kenshalo DR (1977) Age changes in touch, vibration, temperature, kinesthesia; and pain sensitivity. In: Birrn JE, Schale KW (eds) Handbook of physiology of aging. Van Nostrand Reinhold, New York, pp562–575
Kenshalo DR (1979) Sensory function of the skin. Plenum Press, New York
Keppel G (1973) Design and analysis: a researcher's handbook. Prentice-Hall, New Jersey
Kinoshita H, Forssberg H (1989) Development of friction anticipation and adaptation in the human precision grip. In: Gregor R et al (eds) Proceedings of XIIth International Congress of Biomechanics. University of California, Los Angeles, pp 417
Kinoshita H, Kawai S, Ikuta K, Udo M (1993) Effect of lifting speed and height on the forces during lifting tasks using a precision grip. J Hum Mov Stud 25:151–175
Larsson L, Sjodin B, Karlsson J (1978) Histochemical and biochemical changes in human skeltetal muscle with age in sedentary males, age 22–65 years. Acta Physiol Scand 103:31–39
Lexell J, Taylor CC, Sjostrom M (1988) What is the cause of ageing atrophy? Total number, size and proportion of different fiber types studied in whole vastus lateralis musle from 15- to 83-years-old men. J Neurol Sci 84:275–294
Leyden JJ, Marples RR, Kligman AM (1975) Age-related changes in the resident bacterial flora of the human face. J Invest Dermatol 65:379–381
Macefield VG, Johansson RS (1996) Control of grip force during restraint of an object held between finger and thumb: responses of muscle and joint afferents from the digits to loads of different direction. Exp Brain Res 108:172–184
Macefield VG, Hager-Ross C, Johansson RS (1996) Control of grip force during restraint of an object held between finger and thumb: responses of cutaneous afferents from the digits. Exp Brain Res 108:155–171
MacKinnon PCB (1954) Variations with age in the number of active palmar digital sweat glands. J Neurol Neurosurg Psychiatry 17:124–126
Maier MA, Bennett MB, Hepp-Reymond MC, Lemon RN (1993) Contribution of the monkey corticomotoneuronal system to the control of force in precision grip. J Neurophysiol 69:772–785
Müller F, Abbs JH (1990) Precision grip in Parkinsonian patients. Adv Neurol 53:191–195
Müller F, Dichgans J (1994) Dyscoordination of pinch and lift forces during grasp in patients with cerebellar lesions. Exp Brain Res 101:485–492
Picard N, Smith AM (1992) Primary motor cortical activity related to the weight and texture of grasped objects in the monkey. J Neurophysiol 68:1867–1881
Pochi PE, Strauss JS, Downing DT (1979) Age-related changes in sebaceous gland activity. J Invest Dermatol 73:108–111
Skinner HB, Barrack RL, Cook S (1984) Age-related decline in proprioception. Clin Orthop 184:208–211
Smith AM (1979) The activity of supplementary motor area neurons during a maintained precision grip. Brain Res 172:315–327
Stelmach GE, Phillips J, DiFabio RP, Teasdale N (1989) Age, functional postural refexes, and voluntary sway. J Gerontol 44:B100–106
Stevens JC (1992) Aging and spatial acuity of touch. J Gerontol Psychol Sci 47:35–40
Stålberg E, Tronelj JV (1979) SFEMG phenomena and parameters. In: Single fibre electromyography. Mirvalle, Surrey, pp 28–50
Wannier TMJ, Maier MA, Hepp-Reymond MC (1991) Contrasting properties of monkey somatosensory and motor cortex neurons activated during the control of force in precision grip, J Neurophysiol 65:572–589
Westling G (1986) Sensorimotor mechanisms during precision grip in man. Umeå University Medical Dissertations, New Series no. 71, pp1–20
Woollacott M, Shumway-Cook A, Nashner LW (1986) Aging and posture control: changes in sensory organization and muscular coordination. Int J Aging Hum Dev 23:97–114
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Kinoshita, H., Francis, P.R. A comparison of prehension force control in young and elderly individuals. Europ. J. Appl. Physiol. 74, 450–460 (1996). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02337726
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02337726