ABSTRACT
As discussed throughout Chapter 6, the gradual decline in dopamine neurotransmission that accompanies advanced age inevitably leads to declining motor function. Handwriting is not likely to be spared by this process. From the qualitative perspective, deteriorating handwriting takes many forms, including uneven line quality and erratic movements (Hilton 1977; Owens 1990). Document examiners called upon to distinguish a genuine from a forged signature of an elderly person are forced to consider the question of age-related deterioration and whether the available exemplars reliably capture the natural e“ects of aging of the original writer.
