TY - JOUR
T1 - Measuring motor speed through typing
T2 - A surrogate for the finger tapping test
AU - Austin, Daniel
AU - Jimison, Holly
AU - Hayes, Tamara
AU - Mattek, Nora
AU - Kaye, Jeffrey
AU - Pavel, Misha
N1 - Funding Information:
The authors thank the volunteer subjects who participated in this research and the staff from the Oregon Center for Aging and Technology who assisted in the study. This work was supported in part by National Institutes of Health Grants P30-AG008017, P30-AG024978, R01-AG024059, and K01-AG23014; Department of Veterans Affairs Grants P30-AG008017 and M01-RR000334; and the Intel Corporation. T.H. has a significant financial interest in Intel Corporation, a company that provided funds to purchase some of the computers used in this study. Intel Corporation may have a commercial interest in the results of this research. This potential conflict has been reviewed and managed by Oregon Health and Science University.
PY - 2011/12
Y1 - 2011/12
N2 - Motor speed is an important indicator and predictor of both cognitive and physical function. One common assessment of motor speed is the finger-tapping test (FTT), which is typically administered as part of a neurological or neuropsychological assessment. However, the FTT suffers from several limitations, including infrequent in-person administration, the need for a trained assessor and dedicated equipment, and potential short-term sensory-motor fatigue. In this article, we propose an alternative method of measuring motor speed, with face validity to the FTT, that addresses these limitations by measuring the interkeystroke intervals (IKI) of familiar and repeated login data collected in the home during a subject's regular computer use. We show significant correlations between the mean tapping speeds from the FTT and the median IKIs of the nondominant (r =.77) and dominant (r =.70) hands, respectively, in an elderly cohort of subjects living independently. Finally, we discuss how the proposed method for measuring motor speed fits well into the framework of unobtrusive and continuous in-home assessment.
AB - Motor speed is an important indicator and predictor of both cognitive and physical function. One common assessment of motor speed is the finger-tapping test (FTT), which is typically administered as part of a neurological or neuropsychological assessment. However, the FTT suffers from several limitations, including infrequent in-person administration, the need for a trained assessor and dedicated equipment, and potential short-term sensory-motor fatigue. In this article, we propose an alternative method of measuring motor speed, with face validity to the FTT, that addresses these limitations by measuring the interkeystroke intervals (IKI) of familiar and repeated login data collected in the home during a subject's regular computer use. We show significant correlations between the mean tapping speeds from the FTT and the median IKIs of the nondominant (r =.77) and dominant (r =.70) hands, respectively, in an elderly cohort of subjects living independently. Finally, we discuss how the proposed method for measuring motor speed fits well into the framework of unobtrusive and continuous in-home assessment.
KW - Finger tapping test
KW - Motor speed
KW - Typing
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=81255138348&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=81255138348&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.3758/s13428-011-0100-1
DO - 10.3758/s13428-011-0100-1
M3 - Article
C2 - 21494919
AN - SCOPUS:81255138348
SN - 1554-351X
VL - 43
SP - 903
EP - 909
JO - Behavior Research Methods
JF - Behavior Research Methods
IS - 4
ER -