This is an application for a Mentored Research Scientist Development Award (K01), submitted by Dr. Sydney Schaefer, Assistant Professor at Utah State University. The purpose of this K01 application is to strategically enhance the candidate's career in the areas of neuropsychology, disability, and geriatric physical rehabilitation through targeted coursework, clinical exposure, and career products. The candidate's supportive and successful institutional environment ensures that the formal career development plan will add to her existing expertise in human movement. Her long-term career goal is to become an independent, tenured scientist with an externally funded research program that will impact the field of physical rehabilitation for older adults. Currently more than 40% of ll physical rehabilitation cases are adults age 65 or older. A commonly used treatment is task-specific training, in which patients repetitively practice a functional motor skill that underlies meaningful activity of daily living. Current rehabilitative practice does not, however, provide older patients with enough time in therapy to address multiple skills; thus, older adults must be able to generalize the benefits of their rehabilitative treatment. The purpose of this four-year research plan is to test whether older adults can generalize learned information after task-specific training, and if generalization is influenced by cognitive status, as many older adults ar susceptible to cognitive decline. In this project, adults age 65 or older will train on one functioal motor task that simulates feeding, but will be tested on a different untrained functional motor task that simulates dressing. The central hypothesis is that the untrained task (simulated dressing) will become less difficult and less distractible after practicing the trained task (simulated feeding), but that these generalized benefits will be attenuated in adults with lower cognitive status. Results will be compared to control data from subjects with no motor training, and this hypothesis will be tested using cost-effective real-world tools. If the generalization of motor learning between functional motor tasks depends on cognitive status, then future research will identify which specific cognitive impairments best predict physical rehabilitative outcomes. Alternatively, if older adults can generalize motor learning between functional motor tasks regardless of cognitive status, then physically disabled adults with dementia may benefit equally from rehabilitation as adults without cognitive impairment. The candidate's additional training in cognitive assessment and disablement models will complement her research plan, preparing her for future R01 submissions that address physical rehabilitation in older adults and thereby maximize their quality of life.

Public Health Relevance

Millions of older adults are seeking costly physical rehabilitative treatments to minimize disability and improve activities of daily living. Using inexpensive tools and functional tasks, we are studying whether cognitive factors influence the recovery of motor function in older adults. This proposal will help maximize the benefits of geriatric physical rehabilitation to improve the health and wellbeing of older adults, and extend the number of quality, active years of life for more people.

Agency
National Institute of Health (NIH)
Institute
National Institute on Aging (NIA)
Type
Research Scientist Development Award - Research & Training (K01)
Project #
7K01AG047926-03
Application #
9379719
Study Section
Neuroscience of Aging Review Committee (NIA)
Program Officer
King, Jonathan W
Project Start
2015-09-15
Project End
2019-05-31
Budget Start
2016-12-15
Budget End
2017-05-31
Support Year
3
Fiscal Year
2016
Total Cost
Indirect Cost
Name
Arizona State University-Tempe Campus
Department
Engineering (All Types)
Type
Biomed Engr/Col Engr/Engr Sta
DUNS #
943360412
City
Tempe
State
AZ
Country
United States
Zip Code
85287
Lingo VanGilder, Jennapher; Hengge, Caitlin R; Duff, Kevin et al. (2018) Visuospatial function predicts one-week motor skill retention in cognitively intact older adults. Neurosci Lett 664:139-143
Fauth, Elizabeth B; Schaefer, Sydney Y; Zarit, Steven H et al. (2017) Associations Between Fine Motor Performance in Activities of Daily Living and Cognitive Ability in a Nondemented Sample of Older Adults: Implications for Geriatric Physical Rehabilitation. J Aging Health 29:1144-1159
Schaefer, Sydney Y; Duff, Kevin (2017) Within-session and one-week practice effects on a motor task in amnestic mild cognitive impairment. J Clin Exp Neuropsychol 39:473-484
Raikes, Adam C; Schaefer, Sydney Y (2016) Phasic Electrodermal Activity During the Standardized Assessment of Concussion (SAC). J Athl Train 51:533-9
Schaefer, S Y; Hengge, C R (2016) Testing the concurrent validity of a naturalistic upper extremity reaching task. Exp Brain Res 234:229-40
Schaefer, Sydney Y; Duff, Kevin (2015) Rapid Responsiveness to Practice Predicts Longer-Term Retention of Upper Extremity Motor Skill in Non-Demented Older Adults. Front Aging Neurosci 7:214