Abstract
Walking while concurrently performing cognitive and/or motor interference tasks is the norm rather than the exception during everyday life and there is evidence from behavioral studies that it negatively affects human locomotion. However, there is hardly any information available regarding the underlying neural correlates of single- and dual-task walking. We had 12 young adults (23.8 ± 2.8 years) walk while concurrently performing a cognitive interference (CI) or a motor interference (MI) task. Simultaneously, neural activation in frontal, central, and parietal brain areas was registered using a mobile EEG system. Results showed that the MI task but not the CI task affected walking performance in terms of significantly decreased gait velocity and stride length and significantly increased stride time and tempo-spatial variability. Average activity in alpha and beta frequencies was significantly modulated during both CI and MI walking conditions in frontal and central brain regions, indicating an increased cognitive load during dual-task walking. Our results suggest that impaired motor performance during dual-task walking is mirrored in neural activation patterns of the brain. This finding is in line with established cognitive theories arguing that dual-task situations overstrain cognitive capabilities resulting in motor performance decrements.
Highlights
Multitasking during walking is the norm rather than an exception during everyday life
Subjects walked 136.7 ± 17.2 m during single-task walking (ST walk), 129.2 ± 14.4 m during DT-cognitive interference (CI), and 111.7 ± 12.7 m during DT-motor interference (MI)
Bonferroni-adjusted post hoc tests indicated that gait velocity and stride length decreased and stride time increased during DT-MI compared to ST walking (p < 0.01, d = 2.0, p < 0.001, d = 3.0, and p < 0.05, d = 1.6, resp.) and DT-CI (p < 0.01, d = 2.2, p < 0.001, d = 2.4, and p < 0.05, d = 1.4, resp.)
Summary
Multitasking during walking is the norm rather than an exception during everyday life. Walking while talking on the cell-phone or while navigating around obstacles represent examples for the concurrent performance of a motor task (i.e., walking) and a cognitive interference task (e.g., talking). There is a plethora of literature indicating that the gait pattern is negatively affected during dual-task walking in young adults [1,2,3,4]. The decrease in walking performance has been attributed to limited cognitive processing capabilities when two or more tasks share the same brain networks [7]. A common theory to explain dual-task interference is the central capacity-sharing model [8]. Two or more concurrent tasks interfere when they share the same cognitive resources. In other words, when the primary task demands motor control and the secondary task requires cognitive processing, a decrement in performance of one or both tasks can be observed
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