Exploring the effects of mapping rule switching on motor preparation in young and older adults: evidence from combining response cuing and task switching methodology

Adam, Jos J; Koch, Iring · 2025 · Crossref

DOI: 10.1007/s00426-025-02150-z

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Summary

This study investigates the interaction between mapping rule switching and motor preparation in young and older adults, addressing a gap in understanding how task-switching mechanisms influence advance motor control. The research combines the finger cuing paradigm, which assesses motor preparation, with task-switching methodology to examine how switching between spatially compatible (procues) and incompatible (anticues) mapping rules affects response selection. The authors hypothesize that both processes rely on proactive control and working memory updating, predicting that mapping rule switching would impair motor preparation, particularly under conditions requiring sustained proactive control. The experiment involved 73 healthy participants (39 young adults, 34 older adults) who performed a four-choice reaction time task using index and middle fingers of both hands. Participants completed trials under two conditions: a "single-mapping" condition, where procues and anticues were presented in separate blocks, and a "mixed-mapping" condition, where cue types were randomly intermixed, requiring trial-to-trial mapping rule updates. Informative cues preceded target signals by five intervals (100–850 ms) to track temporal dynamics, alongside non-informative control cues. Performance was measured via reaction times (RTs) and error rates, with analyses focusing on absolute RTs, proportional cuing effects, and mixing costs derived from comparing single- and mixed-mapping conditions. Results indicated that procues yielded preparation benefits faster than anticues, with significant differences emerging only at short preparation intervals (<450 ms), reflecting reactive control mechanisms. Older adults exhibited smaller preparation benefits than younger adults, but this age-related deficit was evident only at longer preparation intervals (>450 ms), where proactive control dominates. Crucially, switching between mapping rules in the mixed-mapping condition generated significant mixing costs for both age groups compared to single-mapping blocks. These costs reflected substantial deficits in motor preparation and were more pronounced at longer preparation intervals, indicating that the cognitive load of updating mapping rules interferes with the proactive maintenance of motor sets. The findings demonstrate that mapping rule switching strongly impacts motor preparation, supporting the view that activating new mapping rules and preparing actions share common underlying mechanisms. Specifically, both processes require updating operations in working memory that bias response selection. The study highlights that older adults, who typically show declines in proactive control, are particularly susceptible to these interference effects during prolonged preparation periods. This work clarifies the functional overlap between cognitive task selection and motor preparation, suggesting that flexible behavior relies on shared resources for maintaining goal-relevant information in working memory.

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• task switching