Abstract
Background: Walking while performing a secondary task (dual-task (DT) walking) increases cognitive workload in young adults. To date, few studies have used neurophysiological measures in combination to subjective measures to assess cognitive workload during a walking task. This combined approach can provide more insights into the amount of cognitive resources in relation with the perceived mental effort involving in a walking task.Research Question: The objective was to examine cognitive workload in young adults during walking conditions varying in complexity.Methods: Twenty-five young adults (mean = 24.4 ± 5.4) performed four conditions: (1) usual walking, (2) simple DT walking, (3) complex DT walking and (4) standing while subtracting. During the walking task, mean speed, cadence, stride time, stride length, and their respective coefficient of variation (CV) were recorded. Cognitive workload will be measured through changes in oxy- and deoxy-hemoglobin (ΔHbO2 and ΔHbR) during walking in the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) and perceived mental demand score from NASA-TLX questionnaire.Results: In young adults, ΔHbO2 in the DLPFC increased from usual walking to both DT walking conditions and standing while subtracting condition. ΔHbO2 did not differ between the simple and complex DT and between the complex DT and standing while subtracting condition. Perceived mental demand gradually increased with walking task complexity. As expected, all mean values of gait parameters were altered according to task complexity. CV of speed, cadence and stride time were significantly higher during DT walking conditions than during usual walking whereas CV of stride length was only higher during complex DT walking than during usual walking.Significance: Young adults had greater cognitive workload in the two DT walking conditions compared to usual walking. However, only the mental demand score from NASA-TLX questionnaire discriminated simple from complex DT walking. Subjective measure provides complementary information to objective one on changes in cognitive workload during challenging walking tasks in young adults. These results may be useful to improve our understanding of cognitive workload during walking.
Highlights
Walking while performing a secondary task (dual-task (DT) walking) increases cognitive workload in young adults
coefficient of variation (CV) of stride time, CV of gait speed and CV of cadence were higher during DT walking conditions than during usual walking
Main findings showed that young adults had greater cognitive workload, assessed by cerebral activity in the DLPFC and mental demand score of the NASA-TLX questionnaire, during both simple and complex DT walking conditions than during usual walking
Summary
Walking while performing a secondary task (dual-task (DT) walking) increases cognitive workload in young adults. Few studies have used neurophysiological measures in combination to subjective measures to assess cognitive workload during a walking task. This combined approach can provide more insights into the amount of cognitive resources in relation with the perceived mental effort involving in a walking task. Walking while performing a secondary task [i.e., dual-task (DT) walking], as speaking, searching for an itinerary, or avoiding obstacles creates a complex situation which can vary the cognitive workload. Several studies have shown that an increase of cognitive workload during walking led to a decrease of gait performance (Al-Yahya et al, 2011). Being able to properly identify the level of cognitive workload during walking in young adults would help to provide clinical and future research recommendations
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