TEMPORAL MEASURES OF HUMAN FINGER TAPPING - EFFECTS OF AGE

A computerized finger-tapping test was used in which nonclinical subje cts were asked to tap a telegraph key with their index finger as rapid ly as possible during five 10-s triels. Comparisons were made between young (mean age = 18 years) and aged (mean age = 75 pears) subjects. C onsistent with previous findings, aged subjects performed significantl y fewer taps than younger subjects. Computerized analysis of finger ta pping patterns in the present study allowed for the determination of n ovel temporal parameters of tapping responses. Response initiation tim e was defined as the time from the offset of one finger tap until the onset of the next finger tap. Aged subjects had significant and substa ntially longer response initiation times than younger subjects. Respon se duration times also were measured; this parameter was defined as th e time from the onset of one finger tap until the offset of the same f inger tap. Although the magnitude of the effect was small, aged subjec ts had significantly longer response duration times than younger subje cts. Thus, although the deficit in response rate of a voluntary repeti tive response in aged subjects was largely clue to impairments in resp onse initiation times, the response duration also contributes to the o verall deficit in responding. Using these methods it is possible that greater insight into aging or extrapyramidal motor disorders, such as parkinsonism, may be obtained; it is also possible that these data may be useful as a research tool to aid in drug development and evaluatio n. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science Inc.