Abstract
For an individual to successfully walk, they must maintain control of their dynamic balance. However, situations that require increased cognitive attention may impair an individual’s ability to actively control their balance. While dual-task studies have analyzed walking-while-talking conditions, few studies have focused specifically on the influence of cognitive load on balance control. The purpose of this study was to assess how individuals prioritize their cognitive resources and control dynamic balance during dual-task conditions of varying difficulty. Young healthy adults (n = 15) performed two single-task conditions (spelling-while-standing and treadmill walking with no cognitive load) and three dual-task conditions (treadmill walking with increasing cognitive load: attentive listening and spelling short and long words backwards). Cognitive performance did not change between the single- and dual-task as measured by spelling percent error and response rate (p = 0.300). Balance control, assessed using the range of whole-body angular momentum, did not change between the no load and listening conditions, but decreased during the short and long spelling conditions (p < 0.001). These results highlight that in young adults balance control decreases during dual-task treadmill walking with increased cognitive loads, but their cognitive performance does not change. The decrease in balance control suggests that participants prioritized cognitive performance over balance control during these dual-task walking conditions. This work offers additional insight into the automaticity of walking and task-prioritization in healthy young individuals and provides the basis for future studies to determine differences in neurologically impaired populations.
Highlights
For an individual to walk, they must maintain control of their dynamic balance.situations that present an increased cognitive load may impair an individual’s ability to control their balance
These results showed that balance control decreases during dual-task treadmill walking with increased cognitive loads, but that cognitive performance does not change
The decrease in balance control suggests that participants prioritized cognitive performance over balance control during these dual-task walking conditions
Summary
For an individual to walk, they must maintain control of their dynamic balance.situations that present an increased cognitive load may impair an individual’s ability to control their balance. For an individual to walk, they must maintain control of their dynamic balance. While dual-task studies have analyzed walking-while-talking conditions, few studies have focused on the influence of cognitive load on balance control. The purpose of this study was to assess how individuals prioritize their cognitive resources and control dynamic balance during dual-task conditions of varying difficulty. The addition of a cognitive load during gait, such as listening to music or talking on the phone, may impair the ability to control dynamic balance during gait [1]. The trade-offs between the automaticity and executive control of walking have important consequences in impaired populations because less attention placed on walking may lead to more falls and resulting injuries [15]. There exists a need to investigate how DTs affect dynamic balance
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