Perceptual and Motor Skillr, 1991, 72, 251-256.
O Perceptual and Motor Skills 1991
REACTION TIME UNCHANGED IN OLDER WOMEN FOLLOWING AEROBIC TRAINING ' MICHAEL WHITEHURST Hirman Performance Laboratory Florida Atlontic University Summary.-The effect of aerobic exercise on reaction time in older women was investigated. 14 women (M age = 65 yr.) were carefully screened for health status and lifestyle, then assigned to a random order of the exercise and control groups (ns = 7). Pre- and posttraining tests of aerobic capacity, simple reaction time, and choice reaction time were administered. The exercise group rode a stationary bicycle ergometer for 8 consecutive weeks for 3 35- to 40-min. sessions per week. There were no significant pretraining differences between groups on simple reaction time, choice reaction No posttraining differences for simple and choice reaction time, or estimated VO, time were found even though the exercise group had a significantly higher VO, than the controls. Contrary to some other findings, the data indicate that reaction time may be independent of aerobic training in healthy older women.
....
...
Aerobic training has received considerable attention among researchers as a means of delaying age-related losses in motor performance (6, 16). Significant improvements in reaction time performance have been observed in old subjects after 16 weeks (10) of aerobic training. I t has also been reported that old subjects who participate in aerobic exercise on a regular basis have significantly better reaction time than their sedentary peers (4, 8, 9, 13). A number of other studies, however, have not shown significant improvement in reaction time in old subjects following aerobic training (3, 5, 7, 11, 12). Human performance is known to decline with age and inactivity (2). Moreover, increasing age is associated with a high incidence of disease (6), particularly cardiovascular disease known to reduce motor performance (16). Experimental methods which d o not assess functional capacity and characteristics of old subjects may confound performance variables (7). The above studies employed different methods to estimate the physical and functional characteristics of subjects. Most authors relied on self-reports to assess health status, lifestyle, and function (4, 5 , 7, 9, 11, 13), whereas other investigators utllized physical and diagnostic cardiovascular examinations (3, 8, 10, 12). I t could be argued that these discrepancies in speed of performance might be explained by the subjects' functional differences associated with divergent lifestyles and health status not identified prior to 'Address correspondence to Michael Whitehurst, Ed.D., Teaching Gymnasium, Building 38, Florida Atlantic University, Boca Raton. FL 33431.
252
M. WHITEHURST
training. In the present study controls for health status and lifestyle were introduced to examine whether older subjects' response time was related to aerobic training.
Fourteen healthy previously sedentary women ranging in age from 6 1 to 73 years (M= 65.8 yr., SD = 8.74) were selected from among 52 volunteers living in a rural community in North Carolina and randomly assigned to either an exercise group or a control group (ns = 7). Sedentary individuals were those who did not participate in aerobic exercise more than one time per week within one year prior to the initiation of this study. Participation was contingent upon medical clearance from a physician as well as each subject's completing an extensive medical history, activity and diet questionnaire, and giving written informed consent. Medical clearance included a resting 12-lead E C G and physical examination within six months of the study. Subjects were selected if they were free of primary cardiovascular risk factors (I), maintained the household, including cooking, cleaning, shopping, laundry, yard work and gardening, read newspaper and popular novels on regular basis, were active in church or civic organizations, and unmedicated at the time of this study. None of the potential subjects were aware of the specific criteria for their participation. Consultation with each subject's physician was carried out, with permission, to corroborate information reported in the medical history. Orientation, pretesting, training, and posttesting took place in a laboratory setting. The orientation included opportunities for practices using the reaction-time equipment and being fitted for the bicycle ergometer used for testing and training. To ensure task familiarity, all subjects completed simple and choice reaction-time tasks, 100 trials each on two separate days within one week of collecting other data. A standard choice reaction-time apparatus was used. This included a subject's ane el (i.e., warning light and three stimulus lights) and experimenter's controls (i.e., foreperiod and stimulus selectors and trial initiation switch). The subject's panel and experimenter's controls were interfaced to a digital chronograph which was employed to measure simple and choice reaction time. A wooden partition separated the subject's panel from the experimenter's controls. Pretest and posttest was as follows. Subjects reported to the exercise laboratory between the hours of 8:00 and 9:00 a.m., fully rested and having abstained from food, caffeinated beverages, and any form of exercise, including the completion of routine domestic duties. Each subject received 50 trials on each of simple and choice reaction-time tasks in two blocks of 25 trials with 5 - to 10-sec. intervals between trials, 60 sec. between blocks, and
REACTION TIME, AEROBIC TRAINING OF OLDER W M E N
253
180 sec. between the simple and choice reaction-time measurements. The presentation of the variables was randomized across subjects and preceded by 10 practice trials. Each trial had five parts: a ready command from the experimenter which signaled the subject to depress with the preferred hand the middle one of three response keys for the simple reaction-time task or all keys for the choice reaction-time task, a ready-light illumination, a variable foreperiod (3, 4, 5 sec.), a stimulus-light illumination, and the subject's response. Each response key had a corresponding stimulus light. Upon illumination of the stimulus light the subject responded by lifting her finger from the appropriate response key. Simple and choice reaction time were measured from the onset of stimulus light to the release of the depressed response key. The preferred hand was identified after the subjects had an opportunity to use either hand during the practice sessions held prior to the study. Following the reaction time trials each subject was allowed a brief rest (3 to 5 minutes) and then was administered a submaximal test of cardiorespiratory endurance, using a standard Monarch (No. 868) bicycle ergometer and the Modified A s t r a n d - ~ ~ h m protocol in~ (14). The protocol called for a cadence of 50 rpm and a starting workload of 25 watts. Every 2 min. the workload was increased by 25 watts until a heart rate of 70% of the predicted maximum (220 minus the subject's age) was achieved. Once 70% was achieved, the subject continued to exercise at the final workload. The experimenter continued to monitor heart rate every minute until two consecutive 1-min. heart-rare measurements were within five beats of each other. Upon meeting the five-beat criterion, the test was terminated and the final workload and heart rate (average of last two 1-min. measures) were recorded. The final heart rate and workload were compared against the AstrandRyhming nomogram ( 2 ) to obtain an estimate of maximum oxygen consumption (VO,,,, in 1 rnin.). The nomogram coefficient became part of a regression equation, including the subject's age, which was used to derive the estimate of VO, .,, After completion of pretesting, each subject in the exercise group was instructed in carotid palpation, how to use the rating of perceived exertion (RPE) scale, and assigned a training heart rate. The training heart rate was set at 70 to 80% of the subject's predicted maximum. Training heart rates were adjusted for all subjects throughout training based on training adaptations in the subjects' resting heart rate, RPE, and exercise heart rate. Exercise training consisted of three supervised exercise sessions per week for eight consecutive weeks, for a total of 24 sessions. The subjects cycled continuously for 8 to 10 minutes the first week to provide acclimation. Thereafter, 3 to 5 minutes was added to subsequent sessions so that by week four all subjects were cycling continuously for 35 to 40 minutes at their
254
M. WHITEHURST
training heart rate. A 5- to 10-minute warm-up and cool down preceded and followed the cycling session. Heart rates were taken frequently during the first three weeks of training, after which heart rate was taken once during and immediately following the session. Each subject recorded the time spent cycling, distance covered, exercise heart rate, perceived exertion, and personal anecdotes in an exercise log following each session. Staff assistants reviewed the exercise logs periodically to assess whether subjects were working at the prescribed level. The control group did not receive the cycling training or engage in any form of vigorous physical activity during the course of this study. Extreme high and low reaction times ( > 2 SD), reflecting anticipation or lapses in attention were thrown out. The remaining scores were used to calculate group means. An analysis of variance was used to compare groups on the pretraining simple and choice reaction time and on estimated VO, ,. A repeated-measures analysis of covariance, using the pretraining values as covariates, was employed to evaluate group differences in simple and choice reaction time and estimated VO, ,,, scores following training. Significant differences were noted ( p < .05).
As shown in Table 1, the analysis of variance indicated that there were no significant pretraining differences between the two groups for simple and Similarly, no significant bechoice reaction time or estimated VO, ., tween-group differences were observed following training for simple or choice reaction time. Significant between-group differences were noted for estimated VO,.,, The analysis repeated within groups also indicated signifi, for the exercise group, while no cant posttraining changes in VO, , significant changes were observed for any dependent measure pre- to posttraining in the control group. TABLE 1
PRE-AND POSPTR~MMG IN REACTIONTIMES SCORESA N D ESTIMATED VO, ,..: MEANS AND STANDARD DEVIATIONS Variable
Exercise Group M SD
Controls M SD
Pretest Simple RT, msec. .02 ,296 .08 ,314 .05 ,392 .04 Choice RT, msec. ,423 4.34 24.69 3.67 VO, ,.,, ml/kg/min. 25.48 Postrest .02 .03 ,306 Simple RT, msec. ,321 .03 ,389 .04 Choice RT, msec. ,412 25.36 3.30 29.68 4.20*t VO, ml/kg/min. *p c . 0 5 between groups, pre- or posttraining. t p < .05 between pre- and posttraining measures.
,..,
REACTION TIME, AEROBIC TRAINING O F OLDER WOMEN
255
Lack of statistically significant differences in reaction times in spite of a , in the training group suggests that significant increase in estimated VO, , reaction time is independent of aerobic training in healthy older women. Since aerobic training did not influence the reaction time of the exercise group, it must be assumed that reaction times were affected by factors other than exercise. Considering the health status and lifestyle profiles of the present subjects, it can be argued that being free of disease, particularly disease known to reduce motor performance such as atherosclerosis (16), in addition to maintaining an independent active lifestyle, facilitates basic neuromuscular function necessary for age-related reaction time. Had the previous authors who studied the relationship between exercise and reaction time examined the health status and lifestyles of their subjects also, it would be easier to attribute motor performance to one or more specific variables. At present, it seems logical that aerobic activity may facllitate reactive responses in individuals with circulatory deficiencies which reduce oxygen delivery to tissues and/or healthy but very sedentary persons whose aerobic capacity is below the norm (10). Presumably, a threshold exists below which reactive ability is impaired and above which reactive abihty is maintained. Assuming that these subjects were, by virtue of their health status and lifestyle, above the critical threshold, it is not surprising that aerobic training did not improve their reaction times. The simple paradigm employed here to measure total reaction time provided results which agreed with some previous work showing little or no relationship between aerobic training and rhe performance of relatively simple reaction-time tasks (3, 5 , 7, 11, 12). Moreover, these results suggest that health status and lifestyle are major determinants of reaction times in older women. REFERENCES 1. AMERICAN COLLEGE OF SPORTSMEDICINE. (1988) Guidelines /or graded exercise testing and exercise prescription. (3rd ed.) Philadelphia, PA Lea & Febiger. F? D0,. . & RODAHL, K. (1986) Textbook o/ work physiology: physiological baser of 2. & \ S T R A N exercise. (3rd ed.) New York: McGraw-H111. 3. BARRY,A. J., STEINMETZ, J. R., PAGE,H. F., & RODAHL,K. (1966) The effects of physical conditionin on older individuals: 11. Motor performance and cognitive function. Journal of C!erontology, 21, 192-199. 4. BAYLOR, A. N., & SPDU)USO, W. W. (1988) Systematic aerobic exercise and components of reaction time in older women. ,lorrrnal of Gerontology, 43, 121-126. 5. BEISE,D., & PEASELEY, V. (1932) The relationship of reaction time, speed, and agility of big muscle groups and certain sport skills. Research Quarterly, 8, 133-142. 6. BIERMAN,E. L. (1978) Atherosclerosis and aging. Federated Proceedings, 37, 2832-2836. 7. BIRREN, J. E., WOODS,A. M., & W I L L ~ SM., V. (1979) Speed of behavior as an indicator of age changes and the integrity of the nervous system. In F. Hoffmeister & C. Miller (Eds.), Brainfunction in old age. New York: Springer-Verlag. Pp. 10-44. 8. BOARMAN, A. M. (1978) The effect of folk dancing upon reaction time and movement time of senior citizens. (Doctoral dissertation, Oregon State Univer., Corvallis) Dissertation Abstracts International, 38, 5329-A.
256
M. WHITEHURST
W. J., & RINGEL,R. L. (1987) Physical fitness measures and sensory and 9. CHODZKO-ZAJKO, motor performance in aging. Experimental Gerontology, 22, 317-328. 10. CLARKSON, P M. (1978) The effect of age and activity level on simple and choice fractionated response time. European lournal of Physiology, 40, 17-25. 11. DUSTMAN,R. E., RUHLING,R. O., RUSSELL,E. M., RUSSELL, D. E., BONEKAT,W., SHIGEOKA, J. W., WOOD,J. J., & BRADFORD, D. C. (1984) Aerobic exercise training and improved neuropsychological function of older individuals. Neurobiological Aging, 5, 35-42. 12. NORMAND, R., KERR, R., & METMER, G. (1387) Exercise, aging and fine motor performance: an assessment. Journal of Sports Medrcrtre and Physical Fitness, 27, 488-496. J. E., POLLOCK, M. L., HAGBERG, J. M., & CHEN,W. (1980) Ef13. PANTON,L. B., GRAVES, fect of aerobic and resistance training on fractionated reaction time and speed of movement. Joirrnal of Gerontology, 45, M26-30. 14. SHERWOOD,D. E., & SELDER,D. J. (1979) Cardiovascular health, reaction time, and aging. Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise, 71, 186-189. 15. SICONOLPI,S. F., CULLINANE, E. M., CARLETON,R. A , , & T H O M P S ~P, D. (1982) AS[rand-Ryhmng test. sessing VO, in epidemiologic studies: modification of the Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise, 14, 335-338. 16. SPEITH, W. (1965) Slowness of task performance and cardiovascular diseases. In A. T. Welford & J. E. Birren (Eds.), Behavior, aging, and the nervous system. Springfield, IL: Thomas. 17. SPIRDUSO,W. W. (1980) Physical fitness, aging, and psychomotor speed: a review. Journal of Gerontology, 35, 850-865.
...
Accepted February 7, 1991
O Perceptual and Motor Skills 1991
REACTION TIME UNCHANGED IN OLDER WOMEN FOLLOWING AEROBIC TRAINING ' MICHAEL WHITEHURST Hirman Performance Laboratory Florida Atlontic University Summary.-The effect of aerobic exercise on reaction time in older women was investigated. 14 women (M age = 65 yr.) were carefully screened for health status and lifestyle, then assigned to a random order of the exercise and control groups (ns = 7). Pre- and posttraining tests of aerobic capacity, simple reaction time, and choice reaction time were administered. The exercise group rode a stationary bicycle ergometer for 8 consecutive weeks for 3 35- to 40-min. sessions per week. There were no significant pretraining differences between groups on simple reaction time, choice reaction No posttraining differences for simple and choice reaction time, or estimated VO, time were found even though the exercise group had a significantly higher VO, than the controls. Contrary to some other findings, the data indicate that reaction time may be independent of aerobic training in healthy older women.
....
...
Aerobic training has received considerable attention among researchers as a means of delaying age-related losses in motor performance (6, 16). Significant improvements in reaction time performance have been observed in old subjects after 16 weeks (10) of aerobic training. I t has also been reported that old subjects who participate in aerobic exercise on a regular basis have significantly better reaction time than their sedentary peers (4, 8, 9, 13). A number of other studies, however, have not shown significant improvement in reaction time in old subjects following aerobic training (3, 5, 7, 11, 12). Human performance is known to decline with age and inactivity (2). Moreover, increasing age is associated with a high incidence of disease (6), particularly cardiovascular disease known to reduce motor performance (16). Experimental methods which d o not assess functional capacity and characteristics of old subjects may confound performance variables (7). The above studies employed different methods to estimate the physical and functional characteristics of subjects. Most authors relied on self-reports to assess health status, lifestyle, and function (4, 5 , 7, 9, 11, 13), whereas other investigators utllized physical and diagnostic cardiovascular examinations (3, 8, 10, 12). I t could be argued that these discrepancies in speed of performance might be explained by the subjects' functional differences associated with divergent lifestyles and health status not identified prior to 'Address correspondence to Michael Whitehurst, Ed.D., Teaching Gymnasium, Building 38, Florida Atlantic University, Boca Raton. FL 33431.
252
M. WHITEHURST
training. In the present study controls for health status and lifestyle were introduced to examine whether older subjects' response time was related to aerobic training.
Fourteen healthy previously sedentary women ranging in age from 6 1 to 73 years (M= 65.8 yr., SD = 8.74) were selected from among 52 volunteers living in a rural community in North Carolina and randomly assigned to either an exercise group or a control group (ns = 7). Sedentary individuals were those who did not participate in aerobic exercise more than one time per week within one year prior to the initiation of this study. Participation was contingent upon medical clearance from a physician as well as each subject's completing an extensive medical history, activity and diet questionnaire, and giving written informed consent. Medical clearance included a resting 12-lead E C G and physical examination within six months of the study. Subjects were selected if they were free of primary cardiovascular risk factors (I), maintained the household, including cooking, cleaning, shopping, laundry, yard work and gardening, read newspaper and popular novels on regular basis, were active in church or civic organizations, and unmedicated at the time of this study. None of the potential subjects were aware of the specific criteria for their participation. Consultation with each subject's physician was carried out, with permission, to corroborate information reported in the medical history. Orientation, pretesting, training, and posttesting took place in a laboratory setting. The orientation included opportunities for practices using the reaction-time equipment and being fitted for the bicycle ergometer used for testing and training. To ensure task familiarity, all subjects completed simple and choice reaction-time tasks, 100 trials each on two separate days within one week of collecting other data. A standard choice reaction-time apparatus was used. This included a subject's ane el (i.e., warning light and three stimulus lights) and experimenter's controls (i.e., foreperiod and stimulus selectors and trial initiation switch). The subject's panel and experimenter's controls were interfaced to a digital chronograph which was employed to measure simple and choice reaction time. A wooden partition separated the subject's panel from the experimenter's controls. Pretest and posttest was as follows. Subjects reported to the exercise laboratory between the hours of 8:00 and 9:00 a.m., fully rested and having abstained from food, caffeinated beverages, and any form of exercise, including the completion of routine domestic duties. Each subject received 50 trials on each of simple and choice reaction-time tasks in two blocks of 25 trials with 5 - to 10-sec. intervals between trials, 60 sec. between blocks, and
REACTION TIME, AEROBIC TRAINING OF OLDER W M E N
253
180 sec. between the simple and choice reaction-time measurements. The presentation of the variables was randomized across subjects and preceded by 10 practice trials. Each trial had five parts: a ready command from the experimenter which signaled the subject to depress with the preferred hand the middle one of three response keys for the simple reaction-time task or all keys for the choice reaction-time task, a ready-light illumination, a variable foreperiod (3, 4, 5 sec.), a stimulus-light illumination, and the subject's response. Each response key had a corresponding stimulus light. Upon illumination of the stimulus light the subject responded by lifting her finger from the appropriate response key. Simple and choice reaction time were measured from the onset of stimulus light to the release of the depressed response key. The preferred hand was identified after the subjects had an opportunity to use either hand during the practice sessions held prior to the study. Following the reaction time trials each subject was allowed a brief rest (3 to 5 minutes) and then was administered a submaximal test of cardiorespiratory endurance, using a standard Monarch (No. 868) bicycle ergometer and the Modified A s t r a n d - ~ ~ h m protocol in~ (14). The protocol called for a cadence of 50 rpm and a starting workload of 25 watts. Every 2 min. the workload was increased by 25 watts until a heart rate of 70% of the predicted maximum (220 minus the subject's age) was achieved. Once 70% was achieved, the subject continued to exercise at the final workload. The experimenter continued to monitor heart rate every minute until two consecutive 1-min. heart-rare measurements were within five beats of each other. Upon meeting the five-beat criterion, the test was terminated and the final workload and heart rate (average of last two 1-min. measures) were recorded. The final heart rate and workload were compared against the AstrandRyhming nomogram ( 2 ) to obtain an estimate of maximum oxygen consumption (VO,,,, in 1 rnin.). The nomogram coefficient became part of a regression equation, including the subject's age, which was used to derive the estimate of VO, .,, After completion of pretesting, each subject in the exercise group was instructed in carotid palpation, how to use the rating of perceived exertion (RPE) scale, and assigned a training heart rate. The training heart rate was set at 70 to 80% of the subject's predicted maximum. Training heart rates were adjusted for all subjects throughout training based on training adaptations in the subjects' resting heart rate, RPE, and exercise heart rate. Exercise training consisted of three supervised exercise sessions per week for eight consecutive weeks, for a total of 24 sessions. The subjects cycled continuously for 8 to 10 minutes the first week to provide acclimation. Thereafter, 3 to 5 minutes was added to subsequent sessions so that by week four all subjects were cycling continuously for 35 to 40 minutes at their
254
M. WHITEHURST
training heart rate. A 5- to 10-minute warm-up and cool down preceded and followed the cycling session. Heart rates were taken frequently during the first three weeks of training, after which heart rate was taken once during and immediately following the session. Each subject recorded the time spent cycling, distance covered, exercise heart rate, perceived exertion, and personal anecdotes in an exercise log following each session. Staff assistants reviewed the exercise logs periodically to assess whether subjects were working at the prescribed level. The control group did not receive the cycling training or engage in any form of vigorous physical activity during the course of this study. Extreme high and low reaction times ( > 2 SD), reflecting anticipation or lapses in attention were thrown out. The remaining scores were used to calculate group means. An analysis of variance was used to compare groups on the pretraining simple and choice reaction time and on estimated VO, ,. A repeated-measures analysis of covariance, using the pretraining values as covariates, was employed to evaluate group differences in simple and choice reaction time and estimated VO, ,,, scores following training. Significant differences were noted ( p < .05).
As shown in Table 1, the analysis of variance indicated that there were no significant pretraining differences between the two groups for simple and Similarly, no significant bechoice reaction time or estimated VO, ., tween-group differences were observed following training for simple or choice reaction time. Significant between-group differences were noted for estimated VO,.,, The analysis repeated within groups also indicated signifi, for the exercise group, while no cant posttraining changes in VO, , significant changes were observed for any dependent measure pre- to posttraining in the control group. TABLE 1
PRE-AND POSPTR~MMG IN REACTIONTIMES SCORESA N D ESTIMATED VO, ,..: MEANS AND STANDARD DEVIATIONS Variable
Exercise Group M SD
Controls M SD
Pretest Simple RT, msec. .02 ,296 .08 ,314 .05 ,392 .04 Choice RT, msec. ,423 4.34 24.69 3.67 VO, ,.,, ml/kg/min. 25.48 Postrest .02 .03 ,306 Simple RT, msec. ,321 .03 ,389 .04 Choice RT, msec. ,412 25.36 3.30 29.68 4.20*t VO, ml/kg/min. *p c . 0 5 between groups, pre- or posttraining. t p < .05 between pre- and posttraining measures.
,..,
REACTION TIME, AEROBIC TRAINING O F OLDER WOMEN
255
Lack of statistically significant differences in reaction times in spite of a , in the training group suggests that significant increase in estimated VO, , reaction time is independent of aerobic training in healthy older women. Since aerobic training did not influence the reaction time of the exercise group, it must be assumed that reaction times were affected by factors other than exercise. Considering the health status and lifestyle profiles of the present subjects, it can be argued that being free of disease, particularly disease known to reduce motor performance such as atherosclerosis (16), in addition to maintaining an independent active lifestyle, facilitates basic neuromuscular function necessary for age-related reaction time. Had the previous authors who studied the relationship between exercise and reaction time examined the health status and lifestyles of their subjects also, it would be easier to attribute motor performance to one or more specific variables. At present, it seems logical that aerobic activity may facllitate reactive responses in individuals with circulatory deficiencies which reduce oxygen delivery to tissues and/or healthy but very sedentary persons whose aerobic capacity is below the norm (10). Presumably, a threshold exists below which reactive ability is impaired and above which reactive abihty is maintained. Assuming that these subjects were, by virtue of their health status and lifestyle, above the critical threshold, it is not surprising that aerobic training did not improve their reaction times. The simple paradigm employed here to measure total reaction time provided results which agreed with some previous work showing little or no relationship between aerobic training and rhe performance of relatively simple reaction-time tasks (3, 5 , 7, 11, 12). Moreover, these results suggest that health status and lifestyle are major determinants of reaction times in older women. REFERENCES 1. AMERICAN COLLEGE OF SPORTSMEDICINE. (1988) Guidelines /or graded exercise testing and exercise prescription. (3rd ed.) Philadelphia, PA Lea & Febiger. F? D0,. . & RODAHL, K. (1986) Textbook o/ work physiology: physiological baser of 2. & \ S T R A N exercise. (3rd ed.) New York: McGraw-H111. 3. BARRY,A. J., STEINMETZ, J. R., PAGE,H. F., & RODAHL,K. (1966) The effects of physical conditionin on older individuals: 11. Motor performance and cognitive function. Journal of C!erontology, 21, 192-199. 4. BAYLOR, A. N., & SPDU)USO, W. W. (1988) Systematic aerobic exercise and components of reaction time in older women. ,lorrrnal of Gerontology, 43, 121-126. 5. BEISE,D., & PEASELEY, V. (1932) The relationship of reaction time, speed, and agility of big muscle groups and certain sport skills. Research Quarterly, 8, 133-142. 6. BIERMAN,E. L. (1978) Atherosclerosis and aging. Federated Proceedings, 37, 2832-2836. 7. BIRREN, J. E., WOODS,A. M., & W I L L ~ SM., V. (1979) Speed of behavior as an indicator of age changes and the integrity of the nervous system. In F. Hoffmeister & C. Miller (Eds.), Brainfunction in old age. New York: Springer-Verlag. Pp. 10-44. 8. BOARMAN, A. M. (1978) The effect of folk dancing upon reaction time and movement time of senior citizens. (Doctoral dissertation, Oregon State Univer., Corvallis) Dissertation Abstracts International, 38, 5329-A.
256
M. WHITEHURST
W. J., & RINGEL,R. L. (1987) Physical fitness measures and sensory and 9. CHODZKO-ZAJKO, motor performance in aging. Experimental Gerontology, 22, 317-328. 10. CLARKSON, P M. (1978) The effect of age and activity level on simple and choice fractionated response time. European lournal of Physiology, 40, 17-25. 11. DUSTMAN,R. E., RUHLING,R. O., RUSSELL,E. M., RUSSELL, D. E., BONEKAT,W., SHIGEOKA, J. W., WOOD,J. J., & BRADFORD, D. C. (1984) Aerobic exercise training and improved neuropsychological function of older individuals. Neurobiological Aging, 5, 35-42. 12. NORMAND, R., KERR, R., & METMER, G. (1387) Exercise, aging and fine motor performance: an assessment. Journal of Sports Medrcrtre and Physical Fitness, 27, 488-496. J. E., POLLOCK, M. L., HAGBERG, J. M., & CHEN,W. (1980) Ef13. PANTON,L. B., GRAVES, fect of aerobic and resistance training on fractionated reaction time and speed of movement. Joirrnal of Gerontology, 45, M26-30. 14. SHERWOOD,D. E., & SELDER,D. J. (1979) Cardiovascular health, reaction time, and aging. Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise, 71, 186-189. 15. SICONOLPI,S. F., CULLINANE, E. M., CARLETON,R. A , , & T H O M P S ~P, D. (1982) AS[rand-Ryhmng test. sessing VO, in epidemiologic studies: modification of the Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise, 14, 335-338. 16. SPEITH, W. (1965) Slowness of task performance and cardiovascular diseases. In A. T. Welford & J. E. Birren (Eds.), Behavior, aging, and the nervous system. Springfield, IL: Thomas. 17. SPIRDUSO,W. W. (1980) Physical fitness, aging, and psychomotor speed: a review. Journal of Gerontology, 35, 850-865.
...
Accepted February 7, 1991
