Golf Training: A New Possibility to Counteract Decline in Visual-Spatial Abilities?

It is well documented that there is a large age-related decrease in spatial performance. Older adults (63-79.5 years) showed a decrease in spatial performance independent of the kind of test, the test situation and timing conditions [1]. Especially mental rotation performance declines with age [2]. This pattern of results was also obtained with older adults who suffer from mild cognitive impairment [3] and with patients with Parkinson Disease [4]. Mental rotation is the process of imagining the representation of an object when it is turned from its original upright position [5]. Even though mental rotation is only a specific cognitive ability it is an important one, because it is helpful in everyday task like for example when someone is trying to find a way to a certain place [6].