[Purpose] We aimed to compare the effects of cognitive load and task prioritization on dual task strategies in patients with stroke and healthy adults in order to clarify the characteristics of cognitive-motor interference. [Participants and Methods] In total, 26 patients with stroke and 26 age-matched healthy adults (controls) performed the Timed Up and Go Test while performing a serial subtraction task from random numbers between 90 and 100. Dual task was measured under four conditions in which two difficulty levels of “3 subtraction” and “7 subtraction” were multiplied by two prioritizing tasks that involved “paying equal attention to both walking and subtraction tasks” (no priority) and “paying attention while mainly focusing on subtraction tasks” (cognitive priority). [Results] Increasing cognitive load and prioritizing cognitive tasks affected motor performance in terms of the amount of time and number of steps required to complete the Timed Up and Go Test in both the patients and controls. However, cognitive load and task prioritization did not affect cognitive performance. [Conclusion] When cognitive load increases and instructions are given to prioritize increases in cognitive load, patients with stroke use the “posture first” strategy to stabilize their gait as effectively as healthy adults do.
[Purpose] To investigate the effects of cognitive task difficulty and task prioritization on dual task (DT) strategy in healthy young adults. [Subjects and Methods] Thirty-one healthy young adults. Subjects performed the Timed Up & Go test (TUG) and continuous subtraction task from arbitrary numbers as single tasks (ST), and then performed them simultaneously as a dual task. DT performance was evaluated under four conditions: two levels of difficulty, subtracting 3 and 7, in conjunction with two prioritizing tasks, paying equal attention to both the walking and subtraction tasks (no priority: NP), and paying attention mainly to the subtraction task (cognitive priority: CP).[Results] TUG walking time increased significantly in the DT compared to the ST, and increased significantly more with CP than with NP. [Conclusion] TUG walking time is more susceptible to task prioritization than cognitive task difficulty in healthy young adults.
To investigate the effects of task prioritization on dual-task performance of patients with stroke. [Subjects] Forty-seven subjects with stroke who were able to walk independently or under supervision. [Method] The dual-task was the 10 m walking test while enouncing 3-digit numbers backwards (backward digit span). Dual-task performance was measured under two different conditions: paying attention equally to both walking and backward digit span (Dual-Task Complex: DTC), and paying attention mainly to backward digit span (Dual-Task backward digit span: DTB). [Result] Walking speed and cadence decreased, and the number of all answers and correct answers increased in DTB compared with DTC. [Conclusion] It is necessary to clearly specify the task prioritization, when we use dual-task as a predictor of falls or measure the walking ability of patients with stroke.
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