Older Brains 'Fail to Gauge Grip Strength'

A study published in Multisensory Research found older people's brains do not warn them to grip heavy objects tight enough, reports BBC News . The researchers assessed 20 adults with an average age of 71, and 20 with an average age of 23, by showing them black plastic cylinders of different sizes, but that weighed the same. Each cylinder had sensors atop it to measure the grip forces that each person used when grasping and lifting them. The scientists say both cohorts were equally susceptible to "size-weight illusion," believing the smaller cylinders felt heavier than the larger ones. However, while the younger cohort adjusted the amount of force they used to pick up the cylinders depending on what size they were, the older group failed to. "Not only do we experience objects partly based on how they look, this changes as we get older," says Heriot-Watt University Professor Lauren Potter. "To compensate for 'normal' age-related decline in physical and cognitive ability, older adults may use mental shortcuts to guide how they act. "They may be redirecting their cognitive resources away from using visual cues to predict an object's properties towards more demanding aspects of the task, such as having a steady lifting action."