Efeito do nível de memória de trabalho na aprendizagem motora de idosos.

Abstract

Be able to learn new motor skills throughout life is essential to maintain autonomy in a daily life. The aging process is characterized by changes that occur throughout the life cycle, leading to sensory, cognitive and motor changes that modify the way the learning process of a motor skill occurs. It has been reported in the literature that the aging process would generate functional and structural changes in regions associated with cognitive functions such as the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, which is an area related to working memory (WM) and acquisition of new motor skills. Individual differences in the level of WM could modulate the quality of motor performance, since this type of short-term memory has great importance in the success of motor learning, since it allows the individual to mentally maintain and manipulate the information coming from different sensory pathways, while a task is being performed, in addition to making the connection with long-term memory. Thus, the aim of the present study was to investigate whether the level of WM of the elderly would alter motor performance and learning. Sixty elderly without cognitive impairment, right-handed, of both sexes, with a mean age of 69.08 ± 3.51, were physically active and inexperienced in the task. After the identification of the visuo-spatial (WMVi) and verbal (WMVe) WM levels, the forty participants who were classified as the highest (33.3%) or lower (33.3%) scores for the WMVi and WMVe levels formed the groups separated by the WMVi scores (G20+Vi and G20-Vi) and another group separated by the WMVe scores (G20+Ve and G20-Ve). The task of motor sequencing consisted of pressing four keys on predetermined total and relative times. The motor dependent variables evaluated were absolute and relative errors and on-line and off-line learning. The results showed that a higher level of WMVi and Ve has a differential effect on the performance of individuals throughout the practice of the absolute and relative goals, but this effect was not reflected in the durable gains in the learning tests for none of the goals. When the results of the measurements are observed online and offline, it can be seen that the groups that presented lower levels of WMVi and WMVe, presented a greater modification of the performance in the online measure. In the analysis of the offline measures were found worse gains in consolidation of the information from the end of the acquisition phase to the learning tests for the groups with higher levels of WMVi and Ve. Through these findings it is concluded that individual differences in WM modulate performance throughout the acquisition phase, but this effect does not revert to better motor learning.