| Summary: | A study examined the influence of attentional and motor demands on motor overflow. Data were obtained from 17 young participants and 17 older adults who performed a finger pressing task by exerting either 33 percent or 66 percent of their maximal force output using their dominant or nondominant hand. Motor overflow was concurrently recorded in the passive hand, while attention was manipulated via a tactile stimulus introduced to one or both hands for certain trials. Older adults were found to exhibit greater overflow than young adults, and the effect of target force was increased in older adults. In addition, findings indicated that only older adult overflow was heightened when tactile stimulation was introduced to one or both hands. Increased overflow in older adults may be an outcome of bilateral cortical activation that is affected by increased task demands. To perform comparatively to younger adults, older adults may offset age-related brain changes by using an increased cortical network.
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