Old age affects fingertip forces when restraining an unpredictably loaded object

We investigated the effects of old age on the fingertip force responses that occurred when a grasped handle was pulled unexpectedly to increase the tangential load at the fingertip. These automatic responses, directed normal to the handle surface, help prevent slips between the handle and finger. Old adults (average age 78 years) responded with large peak fingertip forces compared to young adults (average age 30 years), even though the two subject groups showed similar skin slipperiness. For step-shaped loads the average response latency was the same for young and old subjects (about 80 ms). Thus, these automatic responses are not susceptible to the age-related central delays known for simple reaction-time tasks. For ramp-shaped loads the average response latency was inversely related to load rate. Response latency was 25 ms longer for the Old group versus the Young group for loads of 8 N/s, and this difference increased exponentially to a 110-ms difference for 2-N/s loads. A twofold difference in the tangential force required to evoke a response was predicted from linear regressions and can account for the latency difference (0.2 N vs 0.4 N threshold for young and old, respectively, r=0.93 for both groups). This theoretical elevation in load force threshold is consistent with degraded central information processing in old age, and the deterioration of cutaneous mechanoreceptors.