Improving balance by performing a secondary cognitive task

Swan, Laurie; Otani, Hajime; Loubert, Peter V.; Sheffert, Sonya M.; Dunbar, Gary

doi:10.1348/000712604322779442

Cited by 100 publications

(100 citation statements)

References 11 publications

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“…For instance, in support of the attention resource competition view, Andersson et al [2] found that performing a concurrent visuospatial search task decreased balance performance in middle-aged adults (M age = 40.4 years) under a challenging condition with attenuated proprioceptive sensory inputs (i.e., standing on a sway-referenced platforms). However, other studies found that performing a concurrent cognitive task while standing actually enhanced postural control [1,4,[8][9][10][11]14,51,52,63,70,76]. For example, examining the effects of a variety of working memory tasks including a visuospatial task, Dault et al [8] found reduced center of body pressure (COP) displacements in young adults (M age = 23.0) under dual-task situations compared to the single-task condition regardless of the difficulty of the postural control task.…”

Section: Dual-task Attentional Sharing Between Postural Control and Cmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…A review of the literature suggests that the interactions between mental processes and postural control can be modulated by factors such as stimulus and response modalities (e.g., [10,61,62,80]), difficulty of the concurrent secondary task (see [72], for review), postural constraints affecting the difficulty of the postural task (e.g., [9,19,50,68,79], individual differences in sensorimotor expertise (e.g., [68]), and aging (e.g., [11,14,22,25,28,32,36,63]). A number of studies considered the influence of experimental procedural factors of the concurrent task (e.g., stimulus presentation and response modes) on posture control.…”

Section: Potential Factors Affecting Resource Sharing Between Posturamentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The "posture-first hypothesis" would predict that older adults focus more strongly on their postural control than on their cognitive performance to avoid falls [59], at least under conditions of postural threat. A number of studies have examined the interactions between cognitive demands and postural control under postural constraints (e.g., [9,36,50,59,63]). Two of these studies found an increase in postural control in dual-task situations in older adults but not in young adults under challenging postural control demands [36,63].…”

Section: Implications For Related Studies and Future Researchmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…A number of studies have examined the interactions between cognitive demands and postural control under postural constraints (e.g., [9,36,50,59,63]). Two of these studies found an increase in postural control in dual-task situations in older adults but not in young adults under challenging postural control demands [36,63]. The interpretation of these results is complicated by lack of information about age differences in dual-task cognitive performance or speed-accuracy trade-offs in cognitive performance.…”

Section: Implications For Related Studies and Future Researchmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Dual-tasking postural control: Aging and the effects of cognitive demand in conjunction with focus of attention

Huxhold

Schmiedek

et al. 2006

Brain Research Bulletin

506

379

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Postural control in everyday life is generally accompanied by posture-unrelated cognitive activity. Thus, mild forms of dual-tasking postural control are the norm rather than the exception. Based on this consideration and available evidence, we propose and empirically examined, in young and old adults, a non-monotonic, U-shaped relation between the efficacy of postural control and concurrent cognitive demands that reflect opposing trends of the effects of attention focus and attentional resource competition. When instructed to perform an easy cognitive task that presumably shifted the focus of attention away from posture control, the center of body pressure (COP) excursions decreased both in young and older adults relative to a single-task baseline where the focus of attention was explicitly directed towards the postural control task itself. However, when performing more demanding cognitive tasks, older adults showed increased COP displacements, in line with the predicted Ushape function, whereas young adults did not. We outline mechanisms linking postural control to cognitive demand and suggest routes for future investigation.

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Section: Dual-task Attentional Sharing Between Postural Control and Cmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Potential Factors Affecting Resource Sharing Between Posturamentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Implications For Related Studies and Future Researchmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Implications For Related Studies and Future Researchmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

Dual-tasking postural control: Aging and the effects of cognitive demand in conjunction with focus of attention

Huxhold

Schmiedek

et al. 2006

Brain Research Bulletin

506

379

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Interpretation of whether performance is improved or impaired may be difficult for some postural measures. For example, several studies have reported that carrying out a cognitively demanding task can lead to a reduction in postural sway during upright standing, especially for older adults [11,28]. One interpretation of this is that increased cognitive activity improves postural control as it removes overt attention from an 'overly automised' postural activity [4].…”

Section: Verbal Fluencymentioning

confidence: 99%

Stepping over obstacles: Attention demands and aging

2009

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Older adults have been shown to trip on obstacles despite taking precautions to step carefully. It has been demonstrated in dual-task walking that age-related decline in cognitive and attentional mechanisms can compromise postural management. This is yet to be substantiated during obstacle negotiation when walking. Forty-six healthy volunteers (aged 20-79 years) stepped over obstacles in their path whilst walking and performing a verbal fluency task. Using 3D kinematic analysis we compared obstacle crossing during single (obstacle crossing only) and dual-task (obstacle crossing with verbal task) conditions. We grouped the participants into three age groups and examined age-related changes to cognitive interference on obstacle crossing. During dual-task trials, the 20-29 and 60-69 groups stepped closer to the obstacles prior to crossing, increased vertical toe-obstacle clearance, and had reduced gait variability. In these two groups there was a small dual-task decrease in verbal output. The 70-79 group applied similar dual-task stepping strategies during precrossing. However, during crossing they showed reduced vertical toe-to-obstacle clearance and increased variability of obstacle-to-heel distance. Additionally, this group did not show any significant change to verbal output across trials. These results suggest that with advanced age, increased cognitive demands are more likely to have a detrimental impact on motor performance, leading to compromised safety margins and increased variability in foot placement. We conclude that younger adults utilise a posture-preserving strategy during complex tasks but the likelihood of this strategy being used decreases with advanced age.

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Does dual‐tasking affect the ability to generate anticipatory postural adjustments in young adults?

Vazaka,

Franklin,

Mills

2024

European Journal of Sport Science

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The aim of this study was to investigate how additional cognitive tasks (Stroop test and counting backwards task) influence young adults' ability to generate appropriate postural responses while standing on a continuously oscillating platform. Twenty young adults (25.95 ± 2.97 years) stood on a moving platform which was translated in the anterior–posterior direction at three different frequencies (0.10, 0.25 and 0.50 Hz) in three dual‐task conditions (counting backwards task, a Stroop task or no additional cognitive task). Postural muscle onset latencies and tonic activity levels of the leg muscles were measured through surface electromyography; the number of steps taken and cognitive errors made were recorded. Results showed no significant differences in muscle activity between dual and single‐tasking conditions nor between the two dual tasking conditions. Cognitive errors were made in the counting backwards task but not the Stroop task. A frequency effect was identified with participants showing greater tonic activity in rectus femoris (p = 0.012), gastrocnemius medialis (p = 0.016) and bicep femoris (p = 0.043) at 0.5 Hz, as well as earlier muscle activation in tibialis anterior, gastrocnemius medialis and bicep femoris (p < 0.001) at 0.50 Hz. Transition and steady state muscle onset latencies were only significantly different for gastrocnemius medialis at 0.25 Hz (p = 0.001). Dual tasking did not seem to influence anticipatory postural adjustments in young adults; however, perturbation intensities did. The differences observed in the number of cognitive errors made could be indicative of the regional cortical activations and overlapping demand for resources interfering with balance control, though cortical activation was not recorded. Future research should include detailed cognitive behavior, including cortical activations and task reaction times to better understand the allocation of attentional resources during perturbed balance dual tasking.

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Improving balance by performing a secondary cognitive task

Cited by 100 publications

References 11 publications

Dual-tasking postural control: Aging and the effects of cognitive demand in conjunction with focus of attention

Dual-tasking postural control: Aging and the effects of cognitive demand in conjunction with focus of attention

Stepping over obstacles: Attention demands and aging

Does dual‐tasking affect the ability to generate anticipatory postural adjustments in young adults?

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