{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,17]],"date-time":"2026-10-17T02:21:11Z","timestamp":1792203671391,"version":"4.4.0"},"reference-count":56,"publisher":"Frontiers Media SA","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2025,12,16]],"date-time":"2025-12-16T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1765843200000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":["frontiersin.org"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["Front. Aging"],"abstract":"<jats:p>\n                    Physical reasoning is the capacity to anticipate how an environment will change as its elements move and interact. This cognitive skill, which is based on humans\u2019 intuitive knowledge of physics, underlies everyday tasks that are potentially critical to older adults, such as avoiding collisions. Nevertheless, the effects of aging on physical reasoning remain understudied. Here, we tested physical reasoning among younger (18\u201335\u00a0years) and older (over 65\u00a0years) adults as they completed different difficulty levels of a physical reasoning paradigm. Participants viewed object displacements in a virtual environment and had to decide the outcome of that displacement under different gravity forces (terrestrial gravity, half, and double terrestrial gravity). We also tested distinct physical action concepts\u2014supporting, launching, and clearing\u2014because those index different demands on object-interaction complexity and are known to differ during child development. This allowed us to determine whether age-related differences reflect a global decline in physical reasoning or a selective difficulty with conceptually more complex, multi-object predictions. Our results revealed that older adults performed comparably to younger adults in straightforward\n                    <jats:italic>fail<\/jats:italic>\n                    conditions but exhibited lower accuracy in more complex scenarios, implicating subtle object interactions and predicting successful outcomes. This decline did not intensify under altered gravity, suggesting that the ability to recalibrate to new physical contexts may not be selectively affected by aging. However, older adults were disproportionately challenged by tasks featuring action concepts involving more complex object interactions, indicating that higher complexity burdens physical reasoning in later life. These findings highlight how intuitive physics can still degrade in key aspects of precision and complexity. Understanding these shifts is important for developing supportive strategies that help maintain functional independence in older adulthood, particularly in tasks requiring challenging physical reasoning.\n                  <\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3389\/fragi.2025.1646655","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2025,12,16]],"date-time":"2025-12-16T06:28:02Z","timestamp":1765866482000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3389\/crossmark-policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":6,"title":["Reasoning decline during aging under familiar and unfamiliar physics"],"prefix":"10.3389","volume":"6","author":[{"given":"Melissa","family":"Dexter","sequence":"first","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"H\u00e9l\u00e8ne","family":"Grandchamp des Raux","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Ori","family":"Ossmy","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1965","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2025,12,16]]},"reference":[{"key":"B1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1","DOI":"10.1002\/9781118963418.childpsy204","article-title":"Motor development","volume-title":"Handbook of child psychology and developmental science","author":"Adolph","year":"2015"},{"key":"B2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"29302","DOI":"10.1073\/pnas.1912341117","article-title":"Rapid trial-and-error learning with simulation supports flexible tool use and physical reasoning","volume":"117","author":"Allen","year":"2020","journal-title":"Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci."},{"key":"B3","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"1364","DOI":"10.3758\/s13423-023-02400-4","article-title":"Lifelong learning of cognitive styles for physical problem-solving: the effect of embodied experience","volume":"31","author":"Allen","year":"2024","journal-title":"Psychonomic Bull. Rev."},{"key":"B4","first-page":"181","article-title":"Physical reasoning in infancy","volume-title":"The cognitive neurosciences","author":"Baillargeon","year":"1995"},{"key":"B5","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.48550\/arXiv.1909.12000","article-title":"CoPhy: counterfactual learning of physical dynamics","author":"Baradel","year":"2019","journal-title":"COPHY Counterfactual Learn. Phys. Dyn"},{"key":"B6","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"104267","DOI":"10.1016\/j.cognition.2020.104267","article-title":"The limited roles of cognitive capabilities and future time perspective in contributing to positivity effects","volume":"200","author":"Barber","year":"2020","journal-title":"Cognition"},{"key":"B7","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"18327","DOI":"10.1073\/pnas.1306572110","article-title":"Simulation as an engine of physical scene understanding","volume":"110","author":"Battaglia","year":"2013","journal-title":"Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U. S. A."},{"key":"B8","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"95","DOI":"10.1037\/0012-1649.18.1.95","article-title":"Age differences in the speed of mental rotation","volume":"18","author":"Berg","year":"1982","journal-title":"Dev. Psychol."},{"key":"B9","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"11949","DOI":"10.1007\/s10489-024-05817-z","article-title":"Artificial intelligence for the study of human ageing: a systematic literature review","volume":"54","author":"Bernal","year":"2024","journal-title":"Appl. Intell."},{"key":"B10","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"475","DOI":"10.1016\/j.humov.2010.12.007","article-title":"Continuous visual control of interception","volume":"30","author":"Brenner","year":"2011","journal-title":"Hum. Mov. Sci."},{"key":"B11","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"7","DOI":"10.1016\/j.cobeha.2017.07.009","article-title":"The positivity effect: a negativity bias in youth fades with age","volume":"19","author":"Carstensen","year":"2018","journal-title":"Curr. Opin. Behav. Sci."},{"key":"B12","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"661","DOI":"10.1037\/0882-7974.7.4.661","article-title":"Age-related differences in three tests of visual imagery","volume":"7","author":"Craik","year":"1992","journal-title":"Psychol. Aging"},{"key":"B14","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"1231410","DOI":"10.3389\/fnagi.2023.1231410","article-title":"The effects of typical ageing on cognitive control: recent advances and future directions","volume":"15","author":"Dexter","year":"2023","journal-title":"Front. Aging Neurosci."},{"key":"B15","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"455","DOI":"10.1080\/02643294.2022.2106126","article-title":"What tool representation, intuitive physics, and action have in common: the brain\u2019s first-person physics engine","volume":"38","author":"Fischer","year":"2021","journal-title":"Cogn. Neuropsychol."},{"key":"B16","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"E5072","DOI":"10.1073\/pnas.1610344113","article-title":"Functional neuroanatomy of intuitive physical inference","volume":"113","author":"Fischer","year":"2016","journal-title":"Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U. S. A."},{"key":"B17","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"50","DOI":"10.1038\/s41526-021-00179-z","article-title":"Mental imagery of object motion in weightlessness","volume":"7","author":"Gravano","year":"2021","journal-title":"Npj Microgravity"},{"key":"B57","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"20230154","DOI":"10.1098\/rstb.2023.0154","article-title":"The role of action concepts in physical reasoning: insights from late childhood","volume":"379","author":"Grandchamp des Raux","year":"2024","journal-title":"Philosophical Trans. R. Soc. B Biol. Sci."},{"key":"B56","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"01650254251321423","DOI":"10.1177\/01650254251321423","article-title":"The effects of rewards on trial-and-error learning in school-aged children","author":"Grandchamp des Raux","year":"2025","journal-title":"Int. J. Behav. Dev."},{"key":"B18","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"199","DOI":"10.1016\/j.gloenvcha.2005.01.002","article-title":"Adaptive capacity and human cognition: the process of individual adaptation to climate change","volume":"15","author":"Grothmann","year":"2005","journal-title":"Glob. Environ. Change"},{"key":"B19","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.31234\/osf.io\/xq4v7","article-title":"Using data-driven approach to test the link between physical activity and cognitive skills during aging","author":"Hancock","year":"2024"},{"key":"B20","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"6495","DOI":"10.1093\/cercor\/bhac520","article-title":"Predicting executive functioning from functional brain connectivity: network specificity and age effects","volume":"33","author":"Heckner","year":"2023","journal-title":"Cereb. Cortex"},{"key":"B21","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"43","DOI":"10.2174\/1874609810902010043","article-title":"Visuospatial memory in healthy elderly, AD and MCI: a review","volume":"2","author":"Iachini","year":"2009","journal-title":"Curr. Aging Sci."},{"key":"B22","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"ENEURO.0185\u201322.2022","DOI":"10.1523\/ENEURO.0185-22.2022","article-title":"Humans can track but fail to predict accelerating objects","volume":"9","author":"Kreyenmeier","year":"2022","journal-title":"ENeuro"},{"key":"B23","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"749","DOI":"10.1016\/j.tics.2017.06.002","article-title":"Intuitive physics: current research and controversies","volume":"21","author":"Kubricht","year":"2017","journal-title":"Trends Cognitive Sci."},{"key":"B24","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"237","DOI":"10.1017\/S0029665113003923","article-title":"A life-course approach to healthy ageing: maintaining physical capability","volume":"73","author":"Kuh","year":"2014","journal-title":"Proc. Nutr. Soc."},{"key":"B25","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"e99837","DOI":"10.1371\/journal.pone.0099837","article-title":"Neural extrapolation of motion for a ball rolling down an inclined plane","volume":"9","author":"La Scaleia","year":"2014","journal-title":"PLoS ONE"},{"key":"B26","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"29","DOI":"10.1016\/S0001-6918(01)00077-4","article-title":"Aging and intuitive physics","volume":"111","author":"L\u00e9oni","year":"2002","journal-title":"Acta Psychol."},{"key":"B27","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"755","DOI":"10.7551\/mitpress\/11442.003.0083","article-title":"Concepts of actions and their objects","volume-title":"The cognitive neurosciences","author":"Leshinskaya","year":"2020"},{"key":"B28","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"122","DOI":"10.1038\/scientificamerican0483-122","article-title":"Intuitive physics","volume":"248","author":"McCloskey","year":"1983","journal-title":"Sci. Am."},{"key":"B29","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"24","DOI":"10.1186\/s41235-020-00224-7","article-title":"When it all falls down: the relationship between intuitive physics and spatial cognition","volume":"5","author":"Mitko","year":"2020","journal-title":"Cognitive Res. Princ. Implic."},{"key":"B30","article-title":"Flexible neural representation for physics prediction","author":"Mrowca","year":"2018"},{"key":"B31","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"377","DOI":"10.1089\/brain.2019.0724","article-title":"A longitudinal study of changes in resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging functional connectivity networks during healthy aging","volume":"10","author":"Oschmann","year":"2020","journal-title":"Brain Connect."},{"key":"B32","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"e0168520","DOI":"10.1371\/journal.pone.0168520","article-title":"Short term motor-skill acquisition improves with size of self-controlled virtual hands","volume":"12","author":"Ossmy","year":"2017","journal-title":"PLoS ONE"},{"key":"B33","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"104696","DOI":"10.1016\/j.jecp.2019.104696","article-title":"Look before you fit: the real-time planning cascade in children and adults","volume":"189","author":"Ossmy","year":"2020","journal-title":"J. Exp. Child Psychol."},{"key":"B34","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"190","DOI":"10.1016\/j.cub.2021.11.018","article-title":"Real-time processes in the development of action planning","volume":"32","author":"Ossmy","year":"2022","journal-title":"Curr. Biol."},{"key":"B35","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"e13449","DOI":"10.1111\/desc.13449","article-title":"Walking and falling: using robot simulations to model the role of errors in infant walking","volume":"27","author":"Ossmy","year":"2024","journal-title":"Dev. Sci."},{"key":"B36","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"e71736","DOI":"10.7554\/eLife.71736","article-title":"Invariant representation of physical stability in the human brain","volume":"11","author":"Pramod","year":"2022","journal-title":"ELife"},{"key":"B37","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"47","DOI":"10.1016\/S0140-6736(12)61263-X","article-title":"Video capture of the circumstances of falls in elderly people residing in long-term care: an observational study","volume":"381","author":"Robinovitch","year":"2013","journal-title":"Lancet"},{"key":"B38","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"1628","DOI":"10.1177\/17470218211056772","article-title":"How ageing and blindness affect egocentric and allocentric spatial memory","volume":"75","author":"Ruggiero","year":"2022","journal-title":"Q. J. Exp. Psychol."},{"key":"B39","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"2421","DOI":"10.1152\/jn.00025.2017","article-title":"Intercepting virtual balls approaching under different gravity conditions: evidence for spatial prediction","volume":"118","author":"Russo","year":"2017","journal-title":"J. Neurophysiology"},{"key":"B40","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"18","DOI":"10.1037\/0882-7974.4.1.18","article-title":"Structural and operational capacities in integrative spatial ability","volume":"4","author":"Salthouse","year":"1989","journal-title":"Psychol. Aging"},{"key":"B41","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"185","DOI":"10.1111\/tops.12009","article-title":"Sources of uncertainty in intuitive physics","volume":"5","author":"Smith","year":"2013","journal-title":"Top. Cognitive Sci."},{"key":"B42","first-page":"35","article-title":"Physical predictions over time","volume":"35","author":"Smith","year":"2013","journal-title":"Proc. Annu. Meet. Cognitive Sci. Soc."},{"key":"B43","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"89","DOI":"10.1111\/j.1467-7687.2007.00569.x","article-title":"Core knowledge","volume":"10","author":"Spelke","year":"2007","journal-title":"Dev. Sci."},{"key":"B44","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"345","DOI":"10.1016\/j.jsr.2008.05.002","article-title":"Self-reported falls and fall-related injuries among persons aged>or=65 years-United States, 2006","volume":"39","author":"Stevens","year":"2008","journal-title":"J. Saf. Res."},{"key":"B45","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"283","DOI":"10.3389\/fnagi.2017.00283","article-title":"Age-related decline in anticipatory motor planning and its relation to cognitive and motor skill proficiency","volume":"9","author":"St\u00f6ckel","year":"2017","journal-title":"Front. Aging Neurosci."},{"key":"B46","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"1592","DOI":"10.1152\/jn.00104.2006","article-title":"Internalizing agency of self-action: perception of one\u2019s own hand movements depends on an adaptable prediction about the sensory action outcome","volume":"96","author":"Synofzik","year":"2006","journal-title":"J. Neurophysiology"},{"key":"B47","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"649","DOI":"10.1016\/j.tics.2017.05.012","article-title":"Mind games: game engines as an architecture for intuitive physics","volume":"21","author":"Ullman","year":"2017","journal-title":"Trends Cognitive Sci."},{"key":"B48","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.2139\/ssrn.2516887","article-title":"Climate, cognition, and culture. University of Illinois law review 969, Loyola University New Orleans College of law research paper no. 2016-05","author":"Verchick","year":"2016"},{"key":"B49","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"97","DOI":"10.1038\/s41562-021-01169-7","article-title":"Evidence that ageing yields improvements as well as declines across attention and executive functions","volume":"6","author":"Ver\u00edssimo","year":"2022","journal-title":"Nat. Hum. Behav."},{"key":"B50","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"187","DOI":"10.3390\/jintelligence11100187","article-title":"Grounding intuitive physics in perceptual experience","volume":"11","author":"Vicovaro","year":"2023","journal-title":"J. Intell."},{"key":"B51","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"421","DOI":"10.1037\/pag0000408","article-title":"Constraints on motor planning across the life span: physical, cognitive, and motor factors","volume":"35","author":"Wang","year":"2020","journal-title":"Psychol. Aging"},{"key":"B52","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"1088","DOI":"10.1038\/s43587-021-00140-5","article-title":"Rethinking the urban physical environment for century-long lives: from age-friendly to longevity-ready cities","volume":"1","author":"Wang","year":"2021","journal-title":"Nat. Aging"},{"key":"B53","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"111","DOI":"10.1177\/09567976221109194","article-title":"Seeing soft materials draped over objects: a case study of intuitive physics in perception, attention, and memory","volume":"34","author":"Wong","year":"2023","journal-title":"Psychol. Sci."},{"key":"B54","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"1532","DOI":"10.1016\/j.visres.2008.04.005","article-title":"Internal models and prediction of visual gravitational motion","volume":"48","author":"Zago","year":"2008","journal-title":"Vis. Res."},{"key":"B55","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"4183","DOI":"10.1002\/hbm.26338","article-title":"Physical inference of falling objects involves simulation of occluded trajectories in early visual areas","volume":"44","author":"Zb\u00e4ren","year":"2023","journal-title":"Hum. Brain Mapp."}],"container-title":["Frontiers in Aging"],"original-title":[],"link":[{"URL":"https:\/\/www.frontiersin.org\/articles\/10.3389\/fragi.2025.1646655\/full","content-type":"unspecified","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"similarity-checking"}],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2025,12,16]],"date-time":"2025-12-16T06:28:04Z","timestamp":1765866484000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"https:\/\/www.frontiersin.org\/articles\/10.3389\/fragi.2025.1646655\/full"}},"subtitle":[],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[2025,12,16]]},"references-count":56,"alternative-id":["10.3389\/fragi.2025.1646655"],"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3389\/fragi.2025.1646655","relation":{},"ISSN":["2673-6217"],"issn-type":[{"value":"2673-6217","type":"electronic"}],"subject":[],"published":{"date-parts":[[2025,12,16]]},"article-number":"1646655"}}