{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,5,11]],"date-time":"2026-05-11T12:12:15Z","timestamp":1778501535684,"version":"3.51.4"},"reference-count":40,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"10","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,5,9]],"date-time":"2026-05-09T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1778284800000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Healthcare"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Background\/Objectives: This study examined age-related differences in ocular and cardiovascular responses to graded motor\u2013cognitive task complexity in young and older adults. Methods: Forty-three healthy adults participated, including 21 young adults (27.1 \u00b1 7.7 years) and 22 older adults (63.1 \u00b1 7.8 years). Participants completed three tasks of progressively increasing motor\u2013cognitive complexity. Intraocular pressure (IOP), ocular perfusion pressure (OPP), blood pressure, and heart rate were measured at baseline, after each task block, and at a post-task recovery assessment. Results: Significant condition effects were found for IOP (p = 0.012, \u03b72p = 0.08), OPP (p &lt; 0.001, \u03b72p = 0.76), systolic blood pressure (p &lt; 0.001, \u03b72p = 0.51), and relative heart rate (p &lt; 0.001, \u03b72p = 0.40). Condition \u00d7 group interactions were significant for IOP (p = 0.004, \u03b72p = 0.09), OPP (p = 0.002, \u03b72p = 0.10), and systolic blood pressure (p = 0.003, \u03b72p = 0.11). Post hoc analyses showed that young adults exhibited a decrease in IOP from the first task block to recovery (p = 0.011, d = 0.35), whereas older adults showed a return toward baseline values. Relative heart rate was consistently higher in older adults across the protocol (p &lt; 0.001, \u03b72p = 0.29). Conclusions: Increasing motor\u2013cognitive task complexity elicited progressive ocular and cardiovascular responses. The findings suggest that aging may influence the pattern of physiological adaptation to graded motor\u2013cognitive load, particularly during early recovery. Concurrent assessment of ocular and cardiovascular measures may help characterize these response patterns.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/healthcare14101290","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,5,11]],"date-time":"2026-05-11T10:50:52Z","timestamp":1778496652000},"page":"1290","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Age-Related Differences in Ocular and Cardiovascular Responses and Recovery After Graded Motor\u2013Cognitive Physical Activity"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"14","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-0519-9461","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Teresa","family":"Zwierko","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Institute of Physical Culture Sciences, Center for Structural and Functional Human Research, University of Szczecin, 71-065 Szczecin, Poland"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-0924-3255","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Mar\u00eda Dolores","family":"Morenas-Aguilar","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Physical Education and Sport, Faculty of Sport Sciences, University of Granada, 18071 Granada, Spain"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Wojciech","family":"Lubi\u0144ski","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"The Second Department of Ophthalmology, Pomeranian Medical University, 70-111 Szczecin, Poland"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Krystian","family":"Panek","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Physical Culture and Health, Student of Sport Diagnostics Faculty, University of Szczecin, 71-065 Szczecin, Poland"},{"name":"Doctoral School, University of Szczecin, 70-384 Szczecin, Poland"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0009-0004-5713-9078","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Sonja","family":"Himmel","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"HAAK Therapy Centre, 61-782 Pozna\u0144, Poland"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-9129-1864","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Thorben","family":"H\u00fclsd\u00fcnker","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Sport, LUNEX, 4671 Differdange, Luxembourg"},{"name":"Luxembourg Health & Sport Science Research Institute, 4671 Differdange, Luxembourg"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-8091-2373","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Jes\u00fas","family":"Vera","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"CLARO (Clinical and Laboratory Applications of Research in Optometry) Research Group, Department of Optics, University of Granada, 18071 Granada, Spain"},{"name":"New England College of Optometry, Boston, MA 02115, USA"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,5,9]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1290","DOI":"10.1037\/bul0000355","article-title":"The role of domain-specific and domain-general cognitive functions and skills in sports performance: A meta-analysis","volume":"147","author":"Bisagno","year":"2021","journal-title":"Psychol. 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