The degree of multiscale complexity in human behavioral regulation, such as that required for postural control, appears to decrease with advanced aging or disease. To help delineate causes and functional consequences of complexity loss, we examined the effects of visual and somatosensory impairment on the complexity of postural sway during quiet standing and its relationship to postural adaptat...

Individuals with damage to the cerebellum perform poorly in sensorimotor adaptation paradigms. This deficit has been attributed to impairment in sensory prediction error-based updating of an internal forward model, a form of implicit learning. These individuals can, however, successfully counter a perturbation when instructed with an explicit aiming strategy. This successful use of an instructe...

Aim and Introduction: It is often assumed that persons with visual impairment have a better sensory perception this ability helps them to perceive the environment better. To objectively study this assumption we carried out a study on sensory, pain thresholds and pain tolerance in persons with visual impairment. Materials and Methods: An electrodiagnostic stimulator was used to assess the sensor...

The present study aimed at clarifying the relationships between the use of sensory aids and the quality of life (QOL) and mortality of elderly people suffering from sensory deprivation. We carried out a cross-sectional survey on the QOL and the sensory status of an elderly cohort and a 6-year longitudinal follow-up of mortality rates among 1192 non-institutionalized people aged 70-75 years in a...

OBJECTIVES To examine the association between visual and hearing impairment and motor vehicle collision (MVC) involvement in older drivers. DESIGN Retrospective cohort study. SETTING North central Alabama. PARTICIPANTS Population-based sample of 2,000 licensed-drivers aged 70 and older. MEASUREMENTS Visual acuity was measured using the Electronic Visual Acuity test. Contrast sensitivity...

OBJECTIVES Dual sensory impairment (DSI) is a combination of vision and hearing impairments that represents a unique disability affecting all aspects of a person's life. The rates of DSI are expected to increase due to population aging, yet little is known about DSI among older adults (65+). The prevalence of DSI and client characteristics were examined among two groups, namely, older adults re...