{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,22]],"date-time":"2026-09-22T06:04:56Z","timestamp":1790057096139,"version":"4.0.1"},"reference-count":44,"publisher":"Frontiers Media SA","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,22]],"date-time":"2026-09-22T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1790035200000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"DOI":"10.13039\/100000002","name":"National Institutes of Health","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["F32AG071110"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["F32AG071110"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/100000002","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]},{"DOI":"10.13039\/100000002","name":"National Institutes of Health","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["F31AG062057"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["F31AG062057"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/100000002","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]},{"DOI":"10.13039\/100000002","name":"National Institutes of Health","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["R03AG056822"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["R03AG056822"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/100000002","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":["frontiersin.org"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["Front. Aging Neurosci."],"abstract":"<jats:p>Prior work in older adults has developed a brief functional fine motor test, which involves repeated timed trials of an upper-limb task. Performance has been associated with global and domain-specific neuropsychological tests as well as putative markers of Alzheimer\u2019s disease when scored using variability in trial time; however, the extent to which task performance depends on motor ability has not been established nor quantified. This retrospective study examined whether mean trial time and trial time variability (measured as intrasubject standard deviation in trial time) were differentially associated with standard assessments of motor and cognitive function. Forty-eight older adults with no functional impairment completed the functional fine motor test, which was compared to grooved pegboard test performance, grip strength, and Rey\u2013Osterrieth complex figure test (RCFT) delayed recall. Generalized linear models included age, sex, education, and both scoring methods on the functional fine motor test (mean trial time and trial time variability) as predictors. Longer mean trial time was associated with slower grooved pegboard performance and lower grip strength, whereas trial time variability was not associated with either standard motor assessment. These findings, along with patterns of partial correlations, suggest that mean trial time may predominantly reflect motor function while trial time variability does not. Together, these findings highlight the value of considering both mean performance and performance variability in tasks that include multiple trials, offering an efficient approach to assessing multiple domains in older adults.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3389\/fnagi.2026.1957422","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,22]],"date-time":"2026-09-22T05:40:36Z","timestamp":1790055636000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3389\/crossmark-policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Average performance and performance variability on a brief functional fine motor test reflect distinct behavioral constructs in aging"],"prefix":"10.3389","volume":"18","author":[{"given":"Chung-Fu","family":"Sun","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Biological and Health Systems Engineering, Arizona State University","place":["Tempe, AZ, United States"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Kylie B.","family":"Tomlin","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Biological and Health Systems Engineering, Arizona State University","place":["Tempe, AZ, United States"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Jennapher","family":"Lingo VanGilder","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Imaging Sciences, St. Jude Children's Research Hospital","place":["Memphis, TN, United States"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Andrew","family":"Hooyman","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Physical Therapy, Chapman University","place":["Irvine, CA, United States"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Alexandra M.","family":"Reed","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Biological and Health Systems Engineering, Arizona State University","place":["Tempe, AZ, United States"]},{"name":"Arizona Alzheimer\u2019s Consortium","place":["Phoenix, AZ, United States"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Jessica L.","family":"Trevino","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Biological and Health Systems Engineering, Arizona State University","place":["Tempe, AZ, United States"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Sydney Y.","family":"Schaefer","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Biological and Health Systems Engineering, Arizona State University","place":["Tempe, AZ, United States"]},{"name":"Arizona Alzheimer\u2019s Consortium","place":["Phoenix, AZ, United States"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1965","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,22]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"e14333","DOI":"10.1002\/alz.14333","article-title":"Alzheimer\u2019s association clinical practice guideline for the diagnostic evaluation, testing, counseling, and disclosure of suspected Alzheimer\u2019s disease and related disorders (DETeCD-ADRD): executive summary of recommendations for primary care","volume":"21","author":"Atri","year":"2025","journal-title":"Alzheimers Dement."},{"key":"ref2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"723","DOI":"10.1177\/1073191114524271","article-title":"Grooved pegboard predicates more of cognitive than Motor involvement in Parkinson\u2019s disease","volume":"21","author":"Bezdicek","year":"2014","journal-title":"Assessment"},{"key":"ref3","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"665","DOI":"10.1586\/ern.11.57","article-title":"Loss of motor function in preclinical Alzheimer\u2019s disease","volume":"11","author":"Buchman","year":"2011","journal-title":"Expert. 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