0000000000356927
AUTHOR
Otmar Bock
Motor imagery
International audience; Before participating in a space mission, astronauts undergo parabolic-flight and underwater training to facilitate their subsequent adaptation to weightlessness. Unfortunately, similar training methods can't be used to prepare re adaptation to planetary gravity. Here, we propose a quick, simple and inexpensive approach that could be used to prepare astronauts both for the absence and for the renewed presence of gravity. This approach is based on motor imagery (MI), a process in which actions are produced in working memory without any overt output. Training protocols based on MI have repeatedly been shown to modify brain circuitry and to improve motor performance in h…
Age-related operator deficits in a realistic instrument-control task: Assessment of possssible motor, cognitive and mental causes
Abstract With advancing age, motor and mental functions gradually change. As these changes have been revealed by standardized laboratory tests, it remains unclear how much they affect older persons' performance in industrial workplace tasks. The present study therefore compared young and older participants in a task modeled after a complex, realistic industrial workplace scenario, and additionally assessed motor, cognitive and mental variables that might have an impact on overall task efficiency. 25 participants (13 young, mean age 25 years; 12 older participants, mean age 65 years) sat in front of a panel with multiple displays - indicating the momentary state of a simulated nuclear power …