Developmental and age differences in visuomotor adaptation across the lifespan.

We tested 253 individuals at a local science museum (NEMO Science Museum, Amsterdam). Participants spanned a wide age range (8–70 years old; 54% male), allowing us to examine effects of both development and healthy aging within a single study.

Participants performed a visuomotor adaptation task in which they had to adapt manual joystick movements to rotated visual feedback. We assessed the rate of adaptation following the introduction of the visual perturbation (both for early and later stages of adaptation), and the rate of de-adaptation following its removal. Results showed reliable adaptation patterns which did not differ by sex.