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Even though impaired visuospatial abilities can negatively affect daily functioning, there are very few training programs that attempt to improve visuospatial abilities. The purpose of this study was to examine if a single training session with a computerized version of the Corsi Block Tapping Task could improve mental rotation skills. Fifty-three young adults were assigned to one of two groups: (1) control group (mean age = 21.4; 10 females), who had 20 min of rest after their baseline assessment, or (2) training group (mean age = 21.5; 17 females), who had 20 min of training on the Corsi Block Tapping Task after their baseline assessment. The primary outcome was reaction time on a computer-based mental rotation task, and it was assessed both before and after the rest or training. There was a significant interaction between time (pre vs. post) and group (control vs. training) on mental rotation performance (p = 0.04), with the training group performing on average 124 ms faster on accurate trials than the control group at post-test. This preliminary study suggested that improving mental rotation may be feasible through targeted cognitive training. Future studies will consider multiple sessions of Corsi Block Tapping Task training to maximize training benefits (i.e., dose–response), as well as longer term retention in cognitively intact and impaired individuals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Age-related declines in fine motor control may impact tool-use and thereby limit functional independence. Most previous research has, however, focused on the effect of aging on gross motor tasks. Few studies have investigated the effects of aging on the strategy or quality of fine motor skills, especially in tool-use, which may better reflect how age impacts complex movement capability. Twenty-two young (ages 19–35) and 18 older adults (ages 58–87) performed a timed upper extremity task using a tool to acquire and transport objects to different locations. Overall task performance was divided into two phases based on 3-D position of the tool: a gross motor phase (object transport) and a fine motor phase (object acquisition). Overall, older adults took longer to complete the task. A linear model indicated that this was due to the duration of the fine motor phase more so than the gross motor phase. To identify age-related differences in the quality of the fine motor phase, we fit three-dimensional ellipsoids to individual data and the calculated the ellipsoid volume. Results demonstrated a significant volume-by-age interaction, whereby increased ellipsoid volume (space the tool occupied) related to increased mean dwell time for the older adult group only; younger adults did not demonstrate this relationship. Additionally, older adults with longer movement times during the fine motor phase also had lower cognitive scores. No age-related differences were observed for the gross motor phase, suggesting that age-related declines in tool-use may be due to changes in fine motor control and cognitive status. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While the structural integrity of the corticospinal tract (CST) has been shown to support motor performance after stroke, the neural correlates of within-session practice effects are not known. The purpose of this preliminary investigation was to examine the structural brain correlates of within-session practice effects on a functional motor task completed with the more impaired arm after stroke. Eleven individuals with mild motor impairment (mean age 57.0 ± 9.4 years, mean months post-stroke 37.0 ± 66.1, able to move ≥ 26 blocks on the Box and Blocks Test) due to left hemisphere stroke completed structural MRI and practiced a functional motor task that involved spooning beans from a start cup to three distal targets. Performance on the motor task improved with practice (p = 0.004), although response was variable. Baseline motor performance (Block 1) correlated with integrity of the CST (r = − 0.696) while within-session practice effects (change from Block 1 to Block 3) did not. Instead, practice effects correlated with degree of lesion to the superior longitudinal fasciculus (r = 0.606), a pathway that connects frontal and parietal brain regions previously shown to support motor learning. This difference between white matter tracts associated with baseline motor performance and within-session practice effects may have implications for understanding response to motor practice and the application of brain-focused intervention approaches aimed at improving hand function after stroke. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Generalizing learned information from one motor task to another is critical for effective motor rehabilitation. A recent study demonstrated age-related declines in motor skill transfer, yet findings from other motor learning studies suggest that visuospatial impairments may explain such aging effects. Aims: The purpose of this secondary analysis was to test whether age-related deficits in motor skill transfer were related to low visuospatial ability. Methods: Forty-two participants (mean ± SD age: 72.1 ± 9.9 years) were tested on an upper extremity dexterity task before and after 3 days of training on an upper extremity reaching task. Training and control data have been published previously. Prior to training, global cognitive status and specific cognitive domains (visuospatial/executive, attention, and delayed memory) were evaluated using the Montreal Cognitive Assessment. Results: Backward-stepwise linear regression indicated that the Visuospatial/Executive subtest was related to motor skill transfer (i.e., the amount of change in performance on the untrained motor task), such that participants with higher visuospatial scores improved more on the untrained dexterity task than those with lower scores. Global cognitive status was unrelated to motor skill transfer. Discussion: Consistent with previous studies showing a positive relationship between visuospatial function and other aspects of motor learning, this secondary analysis indicates that less motor skill transfer among older adults may indeed be due to declines in visuospatial function. Conclusions: The present study highlights the potential utility of assessing older patients' visuospatial ability within motor rehabilitation to provide valuable insight into the extent to which they may learn and generalize motor skills through training. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We have recently shown ipsilateral dynamic deficits in trajectory control are present in left hemisphere damaged (LHD) patients with paresis, as evidenced by impaired modulation of torque amplitude as response amplitude increases. The purpose of the current study is to determine if these ipsilateral deficits are more common with contralateral hemiparesis and greater damage to the motor system, as evidenced by structural imaging. Three groups of right-handed subjects (healthy controls, LHD stroke patients with and without upper extremity paresis) performed single-joint elbow movements of varying amplitudes with their left arm in the left hemispace. Only the paretic group demonstrated dynamic deficits characterized by decreased modulation of peak torque (reflected by peak acceleration changes) as response amplitude increased. These results could not be attributed to lesion volume or peak velocity as neither variable differed across the groups. However, the paretic group had damage to a larger number of areas within the motor system than the non-paretic group suggesting that such damage increases the probability of ipsilesional deficits in dynamic control for modulating torque amplitude after left hemisphere damage. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]