Motor Cognitive Performance Research Articles

Improving Agility Performance Among Athletes by Jami Agility Table (JAT)

Context: A model of agility ladder tool was designed in the current study to increase cognitive-motor performance in athletes with more advantages over conventional agility ladders. Objectives: The aim of this study was to develop agility tool for athletes using Jami agility table (JAT) which has been the latest training model by creating mental challenge and recruiting muscle movement units for agile performance of sports skills. Methods: In this descriptive-analytical study, a systematic review of agility development methods were presented to improve psychomotor performance in athletes and then the JAT agility table model was introduced. Based on the JAT, a special code is designed in order to develop agility both physically and mentally aspects, and athlete is always engaged with new algorithms of movement. Results: One of the exclusive functions of JAT, is to increase contextual interference in the performance of motor skills which increases reaction time (RT) in athletes significantly. Laterality detection and empowering non-dominant hemisphere is one of the applications of the JAT, which ultimately increases the comprehensive development of the central nervous system (CNS). Conclusions: The most important aspect of JAT is based on increasing contextual interference and random learning in learners and athletes. Additionally, neuromuscular coordination is one of JAT functions which would improve agility performance in athletes. JAT mechanism has been designed based on Movement algorithm models. In such a training model, which imposes a better cognitive function on the learner and athlete to create better motor memory, the process of constant algorithms is converted into variable and instantaneous algorithms, resulting in more reliable motor outputs.

THE FREQUENCY OF USE OF EEG AND NEUROFEEDBACK IN SPORT, SYSTEMATIC REVIEW

Increasing athlete performance is an eternal challenge in the world of sports. The success of the training work performed can be checked by performance diagnostics. Proper brain processing is essential for skill learning and the implementation of effective motor performance. It was important for brain mapping technology to improve the capabilities of imaging devices in order to measure cognitive-motor performance in the field. The primary purpose of this review was to summarize the frequency of applications of EEG and its associated neurofeedback in sport. Examine the differences and characteristics of protocols. Assess whether there is this uniform, standardized protocol for each sport and how often it is used among both elite and amateur athletes. Electroencephalography was initially used most in sports in which the stable setting was followed by only minimal movement. These include sport shooting, archery and golf and baseball. Later, it was possible to analyze more complex movements with EEG, such as cycling. One of the most commonly used techniques is neurofeedback training, but despite some research on the topic, the arena of neurotechnology in sports psychology still exists in its rudimentary form and is constrained by a plethora of technological problems.

Combining Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation With Tai Chi to Improve Dual-Task Gait Performance in Older Adults With Mild Cognitive Impairment: A Randomized Controlled Trial.

Introduction: Engaging in a secondary task while walking increases motor-cognitive interference and exacerbates fall risk in older adults with mild cognitive impairment (MCI). Previous studies have demonstrated that Tai Chi (TC) may improve cognitive function and dual-task gait performance. Intriguingly, with emerging studies also indicating the potential of transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) in enhancing such motor-cognitive performance, whether combining tDCS with TC might be superior to TC alone is still unclear. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of combining tDCS with TC on dual-task gait in patients with MCI.Materials and Methods: Twenty patients with MCI were randomly assigned to receive either anodal or sham tDCS, both combined with TC, for 36 sessions over 12 weeks. Subjects received 40 min of TC training in each session. During the first 20 min, they simultaneously received either anodal or sham tDCS over the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex. Outcome measures included dual-task gait performance and other cognitive functions.Results: There were significant interaction effects between groups on the cognitive dual task walking. Compared to sham, the anodal tDCS group demonstrated a greater improvement on cadence and dual task cost of speed.Conclusion: Combining tDCS with TC may offer additional benefits over TC alone in enhancing dual-task gait performance in patients with MCI.Clinical Trial Registration: [www.ClinicalTrials.gov], identifier [TCTR20201201007].

Effects and Feasibility of a Memory Exergame Training in Older Adults: A Randomized Controlled Trial.

Objective: The aim of the study is to assess the feasibility, sustainability, and effectiveness of task-specific memory exergame training on motor-cognitive performance in older adults. Materials and Methods: Fifty older adults (age: 78.8 ± 7.0 years) participated in a randomized controlled trial with a 10-week intervention and 3-month follow-up period. Both the intervention group (IG: n = 29) and control group (CG: n = 21) underwent a once-weekly exercise program, including strength and balance exercises, while the IG performed an additional exergame training, combining dynamic balance with visuospatial memory tasks. Outcome measures were completion time for distinct levels of memory exergame tasks without (condition 1) and with procedural support (condition 2) and (sub)-total game scores documented by a game-specific assessment strategy. Results: Significant improvements in the IG compared with the CG over the intervention period were found for completion times in most of the analyzed levels of condition 1 (P < 0.001-0.047; ηp2 = 0.238-0.335) and one level of condition 2 (P < 0.001, ηp2 = 0.267), for the subtotal game score of condition 1 (P = 0.002; ηp2 = 0.186), and for the total game score (P = 0.005; ηp2 = 0.162). Improvements were partially sustained 3 months after training cessation (P = 0.008-0.039, ηp2 = 0.095-0.174). Completion rates for initial levels were 86%-98%. No clinical events or safety issues were observed during the training. Conclusion: The study demonstrates that additional memory exergame training effectively, and sustainably, improves performance in complex motor-cognitive tasks involving dynamic balance and visuospatial memory in older adults.

Multiscale motor activity regulation and cognitive performance in middle‐aged adults: A cross‐sectional study using baseline data of UK Biobank Cohort

AbstractBackgroundMotor activity fluctuations in healthy young humans display robust temporal correlations across a wide range of time scales. The multiscale correlations are altered in elderly adults, and their changes are associated with cognitive decline and risk for Alzheimer’s disease. We sought to examine whether the multiscale regulation is associated with cognitive performance in middle age using a population‐based cohort.MethodWe analyzed motor activity recordings that were collected from 97,284 non‐demented participants [aged 39‐70 (mean±SD: 56.1±7.8) years old; female: 54,776 (56.3%)] in the UK Biobank. The detrended fluctuation analysis was performed to quantify temporal correlations at time scales ≤90 min (α1) and ≥2 h (α2; up to 10 h) according to previous studies. Participants also completed four neurocognitive tests, and poorer cognitive performance was characterized by longer reaction time (RT; for information processing speed), more errors made in the pairs matching test (for visual episodic memory), lower fluid intelligence (FI) score (for reasoning), or making incorrect first choice during the prospective memory (PM) test. Linear regression models (or logistic regression for PM) were used to examine the associations of each cognitive outcome with α1 and, separately α2, adjusted for ethnicity, college, social‐economic status, mental and behavioral disorders, diseases of the nervous system, and number of treatments/medications. The 95% confidence intervals (CI) were derived non‐parametrically based on 1,000 bootstrapped samples with replacement.ResultBoth α1 and α2 showed normal distributions: α1=0.99±0.05 (SD) and α2=0.91±0.11. There was a positive association between α1 and FI with 1‐SD decrease of α1 corresponding to a decrease of 0.03 in FI (95% CI 0.01—0.05) that was about the effect of being 2 years older. α2 was negatively associated with RT and positively associated with FI; for 1‐SD decrease in α2, participants took ln(1 ms) longer during RT, and FI decreased by 0.04 (95% CI 0.02—0.06), both equivalent to being ∼2.5‐3 years older.ConclusionMultiscale motor activity regulation is linked to cognitive performance of specific domains in the middle‐aged population. Further studies are required to establish the relevance of these domain‐specific associations to incident dementia in later life and to understand their underlying neurobiology.

Linking Microstructural Integrity and Motor Cortex Excitability in Multiple Sclerosis.

Motor skills are frequently impaired in multiple sclerosis (MS) patients following grey and white matter damage with cortical excitability abnormalities. We applied advanced diffusion imaging with 3T magnetic resonance tomography for neurite orientation dispersion and density imaging (NODDI), as well as diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) in 50 MS patients and 49 age-matched healthy controls to quantify microstructural integrity of the motor system. To assess excitability, we determined resting motor thresholds using non-invasive transcranial magnetic stimulation. As measures of cognitive-motor performance, we conducted neuropsychological assessments including the Nine-Hole Peg Test, Trail Making Test part A and B (TMT-A and TMT-B) and the Symbol Digit Modalities Test (SDMT). Patients were evaluated clinically including assessments with the Expanded Disability Status Scale. A hierarchical regression model revealed that lower neurite density index (NDI) in primary motor cortex, suggestive for axonal loss in the grey matter, predicted higher motor thresholds, i.e. reduced excitability in MS patients (p = .009, adjusted r² = 0.117). Furthermore, lower NDI was indicative of decreased cognitive-motor performance (p = .007, adjusted r² = .142 for TMT-A; p = .009, adjusted r² = .129 for TMT-B; p = .006, adjusted r² = .142 for SDMT). Motor WM tracts of patients were characterized by overlapping clusters of lowered NDI (p <.05, Cohen’s d = 0.367) and DTI-based fractional anisotropy (FA) (p <.05, Cohen’s d = 0.300), with NDI exclusively detecting a higher amount of abnormally appearing voxels. Further, orientation dispersion index of motor tracts was increased in patients compared to controls, suggesting a decreased fiber coherence (p <.05, Cohen’s d = 0.232). This study establishes a link between microstructural characteristics and excitability of neural tissue, as well as cognitive-motor performance in multiple sclerosis. We further demonstrate that the NODDI parameters neurite density index and orientation dispersion index detect a larger amount of abnormally appearing voxels in patients compared to healthy controls, as opposed to the classical DTI parameter FA. Our work outlines the potential for microstructure imaging using advanced biophysical models to forecast excitability alterations in neuroinflammation.

Multicomponent exercise to improve motor functions, cognition and well-being for nursing home residents who are unable to walk - A randomized controlled trial.

Older nursing home residents are often characterized by multimorbidity and dependency in activities of daily living. Most exercise studies in this setting aim at residents who are still able to walk despite the huge group of residents that is unable to walk. Thus, little is known about the effectiveness to improve cognitive and motor functions as well as well-being within this target group, e.g., by use of chair-based exercises. The aim of this study was to determine the effects of a 16-week multicomponent chair-based exercise intervention on motor functions, cognition and well-being for nursing home residents who are unable to walk. A two-arm single-blinded multicenter randomized controlled trial integrated N=52 nursing home residents with a mean age of 81±11years (63% female), randomly assigned to a training (n=26, 16weeks; twice a week; 60 min) or a wait-list control group (n=26). The intervention followed the F.I.T.T. principles (frequency, intensity, time and type) and was continuously adapted to residents' performance level. The outcomes motor function (hand grip strength, sitting balance, manual dexterity), cognitive performance (cognitive status, working memory) and psychosocial resources (physical and mental well-being (SF12), satisfaction with life (SWLS), depressive symptoms (CES-D)) were assessed at baseline (pre-test) and after 16-weeks (post-treatment). Statistics were performed using ANOVA for repeated measures. The results of the ANOVA showed significant improvements of the intervention group for hand grip strength (Pre: M=12.67, SD=5.28; Post: M=13.86, SD=4.79; Group × Time: F(1, 17)=10.816, p=.002, ηp2 = 0.241), manual dexterity (Pre: M=4.50, SD=5.17; Post: M=5.30, SD=4.25; Group × Time: F(1, 7)=9.193, p=.008, ηp2 = 0.365), cognition (Pre: M=10.31, SD=6.87; Post: M=11.06, SD=7.50; Group × Time: F(1, 15)=12.687, p=.001, ηp2 = 0.284), and depression (Pre: M=5.19, SD=5.12; Post: M=4.38, SD=4.62; Group × Time: F(1, 14)=5.135, p=.031, ηp2 = 0.150) while the values of the control group decreased. The multicomponent chair-based intervention over 16weeks was able to improve motor functions and cognition in nursing home residents who are unable to walk. Other psychological factors remained stable within the intervention group, which can be interpreted as a good result for this target group. All of the investigated parameters showed a significant decrease in the control group. The intervention seemed to cause physiological adaptations even in very old age. Study results encourage to further differentiate the heterogeneous group of nursing home residents concerning mobility aspects and to include chair-based interventions as feasible program to prevent further decline of functional performance and maintain independence in activities of daily living for a better physical and mental well-being.

Cognitive functions and underlying parameters of human brain physiology are associated with chronotype

Circadian rhythms have natural relative variations among humans known as chronotype. Chronotype or being a morning or evening person, has a specific physiological, behavioural, and also genetic manifestation. Whether and how chronotype modulates human brain physiology and cognition is, however, not well understood. Here we examine how cortical excitability, neuroplasticity, and cognition are associated with chronotype in early and late chronotype individuals. We monitor motor cortical excitability, brain stimulation-induced neuroplasticity, and examine motor learning and cognitive functions at circadian-preferred and non-preferred times of day in 32 individuals. Motor learning and cognitive performance (working memory, and attention) along with their electrophysiological components are significantly enhanced at the circadian-preferred, compared to the non-preferred time. This outperformance is associated with enhanced cortical excitability (prominent cortical facilitation, diminished cortical inhibition), and long-term potentiation/depression-like plasticity. Our data show convergent findings of how chronotype can modulate human brain functions from basic physiological mechanisms to behaviour and higher-order cognition.

Brain Organoids: Filling the Need for a Human Model of Neurological Disorder.

Simple SummaryThis review article describes an overview of the developed advanced neural in vitro systems and the discovery of brain organoids including the recently developed improvement of this innovative technology. We also mention the main disease modeling applications of brain organoids and their potential impact in biomedical applications.Neurological disorders are among the leading causes of death worldwide, accounting for almost all onsets of dementia in the elderly, and are known to negatively affect motor ability, mental and cognitive performance, as well as overall wellbeing and happiness. Currently, most neurological disorders go untreated due to a lack of viable treatment options. The reason for this lack of options is s poor understanding of the disorders, primarily due to research models that do not translate well into the human in vivo system. Current models for researching neurological disorders, neurodevelopment, and drug interactions in the central nervous system include in vitro monolayer cell cultures, and in vivo animal models. These models have shortcomings when it comes to translating research about disorder pathology, development, and treatment to humans. Brain organoids are three-dimensional (3D) cultures of stem cell-derived neural cells that mimic the development of the in vivo human brain with high degrees of accuracy. Researchers have started developing these miniature brains to model neurodevelopment, and neuropathology. Brain organoids have been used to model a wide range of neurological disorders, including the complex and poorly understood neurodevelopmental and neurodegenerative disorders. In this review, we discuss the brain organoid technology, placing special focus on the different brain organoid models that have been developed, discussing their strengths, weaknesses, and uses in neurological disease modeling.

Ollie Jay: managing heat, improving health

Ollie Jay: managing heat, improving health

Cognition and motor learning in a Parkinson's disease cohort: importance of recall in episodic memory.

Impaired motor learning in individuals with Parkinson's disease is often attributed to deficits in executive function, which serves as an important cognitive process supporting motor learning. However, less is known about the role of other cognitive domains and its association with motor learning in Parkinson's disease. The objective of this study was to investigate the associations between motor learning and multiple domains of cognitive performance in individuals with Parkinson's disease. Twenty-nine participants with Parkinson's disease received comprehensive neuropsychological testing, followed by practice of a bimanual finger sequence task. A retention test of the finger sequence task was completed 24 h later. Hierarchical linear regressions were used to examine the associations between motor learning (acquisition rate and retention) and cognitive performance in five specific cognitive domains, while controlling for age, sex, and years of Parkinson's disease diagnosis. We found that a higher acquisition rate was associated with better episodic memory, specifically better recall in visual episodic memory, in individuals with Parkinson's disease. No significant associations were observed between retention and cognitive performance in any domains. The association between motor acquisition and episodic memory indicates an increased dependency on episodic memory as a potential compensatory cognitive strategy used by individuals with Parkinson's disease during motor learning.

Proposed framework for forecasting heat-effects on motor-cognitive performance in the summer olympics

ABSTRACT Heat strain impairs performance across a broad spectrum of sport disciplines. The impeding effects of hyperthermia and dehydration are often ascribed to compromised cardiovascular and muscular functioning, but expert performance also depends on appropriately tuned sensory, motor and cognitive processes. Considering that hyperthermia has implications for central nervous system (CNS) function and fatigue, it is highly relevant to analyze how heat stress forecasted for the upcoming Olympics may influence athletes. This paper proposes and demonstrates the use of a framework combining expected weather conditions with a heat strain and motor-cognitive model to analyze the impact of heat and associated factors on discipline- and scenario-specific performances during the Tokyo 2021 games. We pinpoint that hyperthermia-induced central fatigue may affect prolonged performances and analyze how hyperthermia may impair complex motor-cognitive performance, especially when accompanied by either moderate dehydration or exposure to severe solar radiation. Interestingly, several short explosive performances may benefit from faster cross-bridge contraction velocities at higher muscle temperatures in sport disciplines with little or no negative heat-effect on CNS fatigue or motor-cognitive performance. In the analyses of scenarios and Olympic sport disciplines, we consider thermal impacts on “motor-cognitive factors” such as decision-making, maximal and fine motor-activation as well as the influence on central fatigue and pacing. From this platform, we also provide perspectives on how athletes and coaches can identify risks for their event and potentially mitigate negative motor-cognitive effects for and optimize performance in the environmental settings projected.

Evaluation of Motor and Cognitive Performance in People with Parkinson’s Disease Using Instrumented Trail-Making Test

Introduction: Parkinson’s disease (PD) progressively impairs motor and cognitive performance. The current tools to detect decline in motor and cognitive functioning are often impractical for busy clinics and home settings. To address the gap, we designed an instrumented trail-making task (iTMT) based on a wearable sensor (worn on the shin) with interactive game-based software installed on a tablet. The iTMT test includes reaching to 5 indexed circles, a combination of numbers (1–3) and letters (A&B) randomly positioned inside target circles, in a sequential order, which virtually appears on a screen kept in front of the participants, by rotating one’s ankle joint while standing and holding a chair for safety. By measuring time to complete iTMT task (iTMT time), iTMT enables quantifying cognitive-motor performance. Purpose: This study’s objective is to examine the feasibility of iTMT to detect early cognitive-motor decline in PDs. Method: Three groups of volunteers, including 14 cognitively normal (CN) older adults, 14 PDs, and 11 mild cognitive impaireds (MCI), were recruited. Participants completed MoCA, 20 m walking test, and 3 trials of iTMT. Results: All participants enabled to complete iTMT with <3 min, indicating high feasibility. The average iTMT time for CN-Older, PD, and MCI participants were 20.9 ± 0.9 s, 32.3 ± 2.4 s, and 40.9 ± 4.5 s, respectively. After adjusting for age and education level, pairwise comparison suggested large effect sizes for iTMT between CN-older versus PD (Cohen’s d = 1.7, p = 0.024) and CN-older versus MCI (d = 1.57, p < 0.01). Significant correlations were observed when comparing iTMT time with the gait speed (r = −0.4, p = 0.011) and MoCA score (r = −0.56, p < 0.01). Conclusion: This study demonstrated the feasibility and early results supporting the potential application of iTMT to determine cognitive-motor and distinguishing individuals with MCI and PD from CN-older adults. Future studies are warranted to test the ability of iTMT to track its subtle changes over time.

Effects of acute exercise at different intensities on fine motor-cognitive dual-task performance while walking: A functional near-infrared spectroscopy study.

Studies on the effects of acute exercises on cognitive functions vary greatly and depend on the duration and intensity of exercise and the type of cognitive tasks. This study aimed to investigate the neural correlates that underpin the acute effects of high-intensity interval (HIIE) versus moderate-intensity continuous exercise (MCE) on fine motor-cognitive performance while walking (dual-task, DT) in healthy young adults. Twenty-nine healthy right-handers (mean age: 25.1years±4.04; 7 female) performed the digital trail-making-test (dTMT) while walking (5km/h) before and after acute exercise. During task performance, the hemodynamic activation of the frontopolar area (FPA), dorsolateral prefrontal (DLPFC), and motor cortex (M1) was recorded using functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS). Both HIIE and MCE resulted in improved dTMT performance, as reflected by an increase in the number of completed circles and a reduction in the time within and between circuits (reflecting improvements in working memory, inhibition, and decision making). Notably, HIIE evoked higher cortical activity on all brain areas measured in the present study than the MCE group. To our knowledge, these results provide the first empirical evidence using a mobile neuroimaging approach that both HIIE and MCE improve executive function during walking, likely mediated by increased activation of the task-related area of the prefrontal cortex and the ability to effectively use, among other things, high fitness levels as neural enrichment resources.

P 300 Latency in Patients With Parkinson’s Disease Without Dementia and its Association with Motor Symptoms and Cognitive Performance (4111)

P 300 Latency in Patients With Parkinson’s Disease Without Dementia and its Association with Motor Symptoms and Cognitive Performance (4111)

Evaluation of the Use of Postural Control Strategies during Dual-Tasks of Hearing-Impaired Athletes

Dual-tasks are often used with postural control. These tasks, which generally target motor skills and cognitive performance, also help to determine the individual’s postural control. The purpose of this study is to determine the changes in performance during the motor task, which includes the cognitive cues of the hearing-impaired athletes. A total of 31 hearing-impaired athletes (male=19, female=12) and 34 hearing-impaired sedentary people (male=18, female=16) were included voluntarily in the study. The FitLight Trainer™ system was used to determine participants’ reaction time levels. The performance time of hearing-impaired male athletes was significantly lower than the hearing-impaired sedentary men in each of the three tests (Random Test: t = 4, 089, p &lt;0.05; Cue Test: t = 3,551, p &lt;0.05; Mixed Cue Test: t = 2, 393, p&lt;0.05). The performance time of hearing-impaired female athletes was statistically significantly lower than that of sedentary hearing-impaired females for all protocols (Random Test: t=2,586, p&lt;0,05; Cue Test: t=2,568, p&lt;0.05; Mixed Cue Test: t=2,899, p&lt;0.05). This study demonstrates that 1) hearing-impaired athletes perform postural control adjustments automatically during the motor task, and they require minimal less cognitive effort than they need to be minimally considered; 2) regular physical activities and training showed a positive development on other systems, especially the proprioceptive system, which controls balance. In future studies, dual-task reaction time values and postural control strategy comparisons should be measured among hearing-impaired athletes and athletes who do not have a hearing disability.

DUAL-TASK ASSESSMENT IMPLICATIONS FOR ANTERIOR CRUCIATE LIGAMENT INJURY: A SYSTEMATIC REVIEW.

Several systematic reviews have evaluated the role of dual-task assessment in individuals with concussion. However, no systematic reviews to date have investigated dual-task protocols with implications for individuals with anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury or ACL reconstruction (ACLR). To systematically review the evidence on dual-task assessment practices applicable to those with ACL deficiency/ACLR, specifically with the aim to identify motor-cognitive performance costs. Systematic review. A systematic literature review was undertaken on those with ACL-deficient or ACL-reconstructed knees performing dual-task activities. The following databases were searched from inception to June 8, 2018 including CINAHL, PsychInfo, PubMed, SPORTDiscus, Web of Science, and gray literature. Three primary search categories (knee, cognition, and motor task) were included. Only one reviewer independently performed the database search, data extraction, and scored each article for quality. All studies were assessed for quality and pertinent data were extracted, examined and synthesized. Ten studies were included for analysis, all of which were published within the prior ten years. Performance deficits were identified in those with either ACL deficiency or ACLR while dual-tasking, such as prioritization of postural control at the expense of cognitive performance, impaired postural control in single limb stance, greater number of cognitive errors, and increased step width coefficient of variation while walking. No studies examined those with prior ACL injury or ACLR during tasks that mimicked ACL injury mechanisms such as jump-landing or single-leg cutting. The results of the current systematic review suggests that postural control, gait, and/or cognitive deficits exist when evaluated under a dual-task paradigm in those with ACL deficiency or ACLR. This systematic review highlights the need for future research on dual-task assessment for individuals who have sustained an ACL injury or undergone ACLR, specifically utilizing more difficult athletic movements. Level 3a.

Assessment of Cognitive-Motor Performance Costs, Task Prioritization, and Adaptation to Dishwashing Under Increased Demand in Older Women With Arthritis.

Background and ObjectivesHand arthritis can limit upper-limb instrumental activities of daily living (IADLs) and require the recruitment of additional cognitive and motor resources to support performance. We devised a dual-task protocol for dishwashing to examine cognitive-motor performance costs and prioritizations under increased demands, processes of adaptation, and individual differences in performance costs.Research Design and MethodsSixty women with hand arthritis (aged 60–91) completed a standardized dishwashing protocol. Motor demand was increased via the properties of the soap dispenser. Cognitive demand was increased using audial attention and response inhibition tasks. The protocol was completed twice per lab visit on 3 occasions. Response time and dishwashing time provided measures of cognitive and motor task performance. Prioritization was determined by comparing the magnitude of dual-task cost (DTC) across tasks. Adaptation to the dishwashing protocol and novel dispenser was assessed by change in DTC across lab visits. Individual differences in cognitive and physical ability were assessed with the trail making B test and gait speed.ResultsEstimates from linear mixed-effects models revealed that response time increased, whereas dishwashing time decreased, during the dual-task study stages. Cognitive-motor prioritization effects were most pronounced among women with lower cognitive and physical ability. Evidence of prioritization and individual differences in DTC diminished across lab visits.Discussion and ImplicationsThe pattern of results suggests that older women with arthritis prioritize the motor over cognitive components of dishwashing, a common IADL. Adaptation across lab visits resulted in improved performance, reduced evidence of prioritization, and attenuated differences in DTC across physical and cognitive abilities.

Effects of Motor Versus Cognitive Task Prioritization During Dual-Task Practice on Dual-Task Performance in Young Adults.

Background: Previous studies have reported positive effects of concurrent motor and cognitive task practice compared to motor or cognitive task practice only on dual-task performance in young adults. Knowledge about the effect of motor vs. cognitive task prioritization during practice on dual-task performance remains unclear and has not been investigated in depth so far. Thus, we examined the effects of motor task compared to cognitive task prioritization during dual-task practice on motor-cognitive performance in healthy young adults.Methods: Healthy young adults were randomly assigned to dual-task (DT; i.e., concurrent motor and cognitive practice) or single-task (ST; i.e., motor or cognitive task practice only) practice groups. In DT practice, subjects were instructed to either prioritize the motor or the cognitive task. The motor task required subjects to keep a stabilometer in a horizontal position. The cognitive task involved serial three subtractions. Outcome variables were the root-mean-square error (RMSE) for the motor task and the total number of correct calculations for the cognitive task. All participants practiced for 2 consecutive days under their respective treatment condition and were tested under DT condition 24 h later (i.e., retention on day 3) without providing instructions on task prioritization.Results: Irrespective of prioritization (i.e., prioritize the motor task or the cognitive task), the DT practice groups similarly improved their DT motor and cognitive task performance. The ST groups also improved motor or cognitive performance depending on their respective training contents (i.e., motor practice improved RMSE and cognitive practice improved number of correct calculations but not vice versa).Conclusion: We conclude that DT compared to ST practice is well-suited to improve DT performance, irrespective of task-prioritization. DT but not ST practice resulted in an improved modulation of both domains (i.e., motor and cognitive) during DT performance. Our findings might be explained by freeing up central resources following DT practice that can be used to effectively perform the concurrent execution of motor and cognitive processing demands. However, this process is not further enhanced by the prioritized task domain.

The efficacy of cognitive-cycling dual-task training in patients with early-stage Parkinson's disease: A pilot study.

Recent studies have suggested that cognitive-motor dual-task (DT) training might improve gait performance, locomotion automaticity, balance, and cognition in patients with Parkinson's disease (PD). We aimed to investigate the efficacy of cognitive-cycling DT training in patients with early-stage PD. Participants were scheduled to perform cognitive tasks simultaneously with the cycling training twice per week for eight weeks for a total of 16 sessions during their on-states. Clinical assessments were conducted using the unified Parkinson's disease rating scale (UPDRS), modified Hoehn and Yahr stage, Timed Up and Go (TUG) test, gait and cognitive performances under dual-task paradigm, the new freezing of gait questionnaire, Schwab and England Activities of Daily Living scale, 39-item Parkinson's disease questionnaire, and cognitive performance. Thirteen eligible patients were enrolled in the study. The mean age was 60.64±5.32 years, and the mean disease duration was 7.02±3.23 years. Twelve PD patients completed 16 serial cognitive-cycling sessions for two months. After 16 sessions of training (T2), the UPDRS III scores improved significantly in both the off- and on-states, and TUG were significantly less than those at pretraining (T0). During both the single-task and the DT situations, gait performance and spatial memory cognitive performance significantly improved from T0 to T2. The present study demonstrated that cognitive-cycling DT training improves the motor functions, gait and cognitive performances of PD patients.