Introduction and Objectives:
This preliminary study examined the relationship between bottle cap-opening ability, manual dexterity, and motor skills in aging. Fine motor skills tend to decline with age, affecting daily activities and overall functional independence. We aimed to assess movement smoothness and control in both young and older adults to better understand the impact of aging on fine motor performance.
Methods:
We assessed 20 young adults (aged 15–23 years) and 20 older adults (aged 65–78 years) using the Montreal Cognitive Assessment Japanese (MoCA-J) and a bottle cap-opening task. This task included both externally and internally guided conditions, where participants rotated a cylindrical object using their thumb, index, and middle fingers. Key parameters included mean rotational velocity, coefficient of variation, acceleration changes, and angular jerk. Data were collected at a sampling rate of 1,000 Hz using a rotary encoder and analyzed using MATLAB software. All experimental procedures were approved by the Ethics Committee of Saitama Prefectural Rehabilitation Center (Approval No. R3-09).
Results:
Preliminary findings revealed significant differences in angular jerk and variability between groups (P<0.05). The older group exhibited higher angular jerk under the internally guided condition and greater variability, which correlated with cognitive scores (P<0.05, r=-0.46).
Conclusions:
Older adults exhibited impaired fine motor control, characterized by increased movement variability and effort during bottle cap rotation. This may be linked to sensory-motor integration challenges and potential cerebellar dysfunction. Given the preliminary nature of this study, further research with larger sample sizes is needed to better understand motor impairments in aging and their relationship with conditions such as dementia.