Skill learning in the elderly: Diminished implicit and explicit memory for a motor sequence.

Studied explicit and implicit memory for a cognitive-motor sequence in elderly and young adults. Implicit memory was examined in a serial reaction time (RT) paradigm in which sequences of hand postures repeated cyclically, then shifted to random sequences. Two control groups received random sequences throughout. Movement times (MTs) across the 1st 4 blocks did not improve more in the elderly-repeated than in the elderly-random group. In contrast, the young-repeated group showed greater improvement in MT across these blocks than the young-random group. MT was less affected in the elderly than in the young by shifts between repeated and random sequences, indicating impaired implicit memory. Explicit memory, which was assessed by free recall and cued recall, also was impaired in the elderly. Diminished implicit memory in the elderly could not be explained solely by the possible intrusion of conscious recollection strategies. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)