Touch in aging

Abstract

While hearing loss and decreased eyesight are things we all expect with aging, we are less aware of the changes that also affect other sensory systems. For instance, people often experience substantial decline in their ability to detect and discriminate touch stimuli as they age and yet, these changes often go unnoticed for years. Touch in Aging provides an overview of results from past and current studies that have examined the impact of age on tactile performance in human observers. We also address briefly the reasons as to why some tactile abilities are more affected than others by age and why tactile experience might be an important factor in modulating age effects in senior individuals.