The aim of this investigation was to determine whether age-related changes in the dynamics of muscle activation were, in part, responsible for longer reaction times (RT) in the elderly. A group of 12 young (mean age, 20.6 years) and 12 elderly (mean age, 64.3 years) women performed a series of ballistic forearm supination movements in response to an auditory stimulus while using a simple reaction time test. Surface electromyographic waveforms from biceps brachii (agonist) and pronator teres (antagonist) muscles were recorded, together with the angle-time curves representing the motion of the forearm, on to an IBM compatible microcomputer. The results showed that an age-related increase (P<0.05) in motor reaction time (MRT) contributed to longer RT in the elderly. In addition, the longer (P<0.05) MRTs in the elderly were associated with a significantly slower rate (P<0.05) of biceps brachii muscle activation and a significantly increased proportion (P<0.05) of the initial biceps brachii muscle burst required to initiate the movement. This data suggested that an important part of the slowing of motor behaviour, commonly observed with increasing age, may be due to either decreases in the ability of aged skeletal muscle to rapidly generate tension or to a reduction in motor drive. 相似文献
1. 1. Acute effects of alcohol and diazepam on reaction time (RT) and event-related potential (ERP) measures were examined in 108 healthy male volunteers.
2. 2. The subjects engaged in a simple RT task at two levels of stimulus intensity during baseline and treatment sessions.
3. 3. Lower stimulus intensity produced increased RTs, increased ERP peak latencies, and suppression of peak amplitudes.
4. 4. Moderate and high doses of alcohol, and high doses of diazepam produced increased RTs. Alcohol suppressed P100 and N100 amplitudes, while diazepam suppressed P100 amplitudes only. P100 amplitudes were correlated to RTs under baseline and treatment conditions.
5. 5. These results were taken as evidence for impaired stimulus detection during alcohol and diazepam intoxication, with both drugs influencing sensory-perceptual processes and alcohol alone influencing the degree of attentiveness.
Author Keywords: alcohol; diazepam; event-related potentials; simple reaction time 相似文献
We studied nine patients with optic nerve injury associated with closed head trauma by magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) with short inversion time inversion recovery (STIR) sequences on 11 occasions from 4 days to 14 years after the injury: three studies were within 17 days and eight over 4 months to 14 years. MRI revealed abnormal high signal in 10 of the 11 injured nerves. MRI 4 days after the injury showed no abnormality. 相似文献
The treatment times for the fabrication of Extensive Amalgam Restorations (EAR) as recorded in a longitudinal clinical trial at the Dental School in Nijmegen were analyzed. 269 EAR's with different retention methods were made on molars by three operators. A mean total treatment time of 60 min was found. The factor operator had a significant influence on all treatment phases resulting in a 26% difference in total treatment time between operators. Also significant influences were found in some treatment phases for the factor retention, side location of the tooth and extension of the restoration. The results of this study with regard to treatment times must be considered from the perspective of the quality of the care provided. 相似文献
In this study we examined test-retest stability of cardiovascular stress responses over a decade of the life span. Participants were 55 male college undergraduates. 19 years of age at initial testing, and 29 years of age at follow-up testing Stressors were a foot cold pressor and an aversive reaction time task. Cardiovascular measures included systolic and diastolic blood pressure, heart rate, and preejection period. For cold pressor, the magnitude and pattern of cardiovascular responses remained unchanged at the 10-year follow-up. For the reaction time task, the characteristic cardiovascular response patterns was preserved but with significant attenuation of magnitude. The present findings are consistent with previous observations of temporal stability but over a substantially longer test-retest interval. The long-term stability of stress responses is discussed in the context of stress test methodology, behavioral response demands, and maturation of the physiological systems involved in cardiovascular response expression. 相似文献