Effects of Cognitive Load on Inter-Phase Transfer of Bimanual Coordination Patterns in Elderly

Farsi Alireza¹, Soltani Sana², Tohiditabar Faezeh³, Mahdipour Elham³ and Sayyah Mansour⁴

¹Associate Professor of Shahid Beheshti University, Tehran, Iran ^2-3Graduate Student, Shahid Beheshti University, Tehran, Iran ⁴Associate Professor, Kashan University of Medical Sciences, Affiliated Faculty Member of Trauma Research Center, Kashan, I.R. Iran

DOI : http://dx.doi.org/10.13005/bbra/2231

ABSTRACT: Bimanual coordination is a significant ability that is used in many daily tasks including bottoming cloth, driving, picking, throwing, catching and many sport skills. Performing these activities depends on many factors such as age, gender, and attention limitations. The purpose of this research was to compare the inter-phase transfer of bimanual coordination patterns in aged men and women with/or without cognitive load when hand movements speed were gradually increased. In this experimental research, one group of healthy volunteer men (n=10) and women (n=10) aged between 60 to 74 years participated in a bimanual coordination task. The instrument used to examine the transfer phase was a set made by Pedidar-Omid Farda Co. Analysis of variance was employed to analyze the data. The result indicated that cognitive load had a significant effect on transfer phase of bimanual coordination patterns (P=0.001). However, there was no significant difference between the gender nor there was any interaction effect (P>0.05). The results of present research indicated that cognitive load had an impairing effect on bimanual coordination and causes faster speed of transfer between the patterns regardless of gender factor.

KEYWORDS: Bimanual coordination; Cognitive load; Transfer phase; Gender; Elderly

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