Motor asymmetry attenuation in older adults during imagined arm movements

2014

International audience; Laterality is an important feature of motor behavior. Several studies have shown that lateralization in right-handed young adults (i.e., right versus left arm superiority) emerges also during imagined actions, that is when an action is internally simulated without any motor output. Such information, however, is lacking for elderly people and it could be valuable to further comprehend the evolution of mental states of action in normal aging. Here, we evaluated the influence of age on motor laterality during mental actions. Twenty-four young (mean age: 24.7 +/- 4.4 years) and 24 elderly (mean age: 72.4 +/- 3.6 years) participants mentally simulated and actually execute…