The role of eye movements, attention, and hand movements on age-related differences in pegboard tests

Well-documented manual dexterity impairments in older adults may critically depend on the processing of visual information. The purpose of this study was to determine age-related changes in eye and hand movements during commonly used pegboard tests and the association with manual dexterity impairments in older adults. The relationship between attentional deficits and manual dexterity was also assessed. Eye movements and hand kinematics of 20 young (20-38 years) and 20 older (65-85 years) adults were recorded during 9-Hole Pegboard, Grooved Pegboard and a visuospatial dual test. Results were compared to standardized tests of attention (The Test of Everyday Attention and Trail Making Test) that assess visual selective attention, sustained attention, attentional switching and divided attention. Hand movement variability was 34% greater in older vs. young adults when placing the pegs into the pegboard and this was associated with decreased pegboard performance, providing further evidenc...