Motor Tests and Cognition in Healthy Older Adults

Abstract

The Finger Tapping Test (FTT) and Grooved Pegboard Test (GPT) are commonly used in neuropsychological assessments. The performance of healthy older adults on these tasks has not been well characterized in the existing literature. The present study examines FTT and GPT performance in a sample of 307 community-dwelling older individuals (ages 55–74) with no neurological or psychiatric history. Results: FTT performance was influenced by age, gender, and education, while GPT performance was influenced by age and gender. Findings are presented for both hands, as well as dominant-to-non-dominant hand ratio score, on each test. Correlations with other neuropsychological measures demonstrated that the GPT is more strongly correlated with measures of most domains (memory, processing speed, executive functioning, and spatial organization) than the FTT. Conclusions: While the FTT can be used to measure upper extremity motor ability, the GPT may be more strongly associated with general cognitive functioning in healthy adults. The FTT and GPT results presented will improve the utility of these tasks in clinical assessments of older adults.

Key words:

• finger tapping
• grooved pegboard
• older adults
• psychomotor tests

Notes

Note. SD = standard deviation; NAART-IQ = North American Adult Reading Test–estimated IQ score; FTT = Finger Tapping Test; GPT = Grooved Pegboard Test; dom = dominant hand; ndom = non-dominant hand.

Note. Educ. = education; Dom = dominant hand; NDom = non-dominant hand; Ratio = dominant ÷ non-dominant hand performance; M = mean, SD = standard deviation.

Note. Ratio = dominant ÷ non-dominant hand performance; M = mean, SD = standard deviation.

Note. Cumulative percentages represent the percent of individuals who dropped the given number of pegs or more (e.g., 15% dropped at least two pegs with their dominant hand).

Note. FTT = Finger Tapping Test; dom = dominant; nd = non-dominant; GPT = Grooved Pegboard Test; Drop = Grooved Pegboard Test–number of dropped pegs; LM = Wechsler Memory Scale-Logical Memory; IR = immediate recall; DR = delayed recall; VR = Wechsler Memory Scale-Visual Reproduction; DS = Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale-Revised–Digit Symbol; TMT = Trail Making Test; WCST = Wisconsin Card Sorting Test; CC = categories completed; PE = perseverative errors; BD = Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale-Revised–Block Design.

^∧As GPT dropped pegs are not normally distributed, correlations involving that variable are Spearman's rank correlation coefficients; all others are Pearson product-moment coefficients.

∗p < 0.05, ∗∗p < 0.01.