Perceptuo-motor learning rate declines by half from 20s to 70/80s

This study examined perception-action learning in younger adults in their 20s compared to older adults in their 70s and 80s. The goal was to provide, for the first time, quantitative estimates of perceptuo-motor learning rates for each age group and to reveal how these learning rates change between these age groups. We used a visual coordination task in which participants are asked to learn to produce a novel-coordinated rhythmic movement. The task has been studied extensively in young adults, and the characteristics of the task are well understood. All groups showed improvement, although learning rates for those in their 70s and 80s were half the rate for those in their 20s. We consider the potential causes of these differences in learning rates by examining performance across the different coordination patterns examined as well as recent results that reveal age-related deficits in motion perception.