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The effect of a concurrent task on the walking performance of preschool children
Rong-Ju Cherng1, Ling-Yin Liang, Ing-Shiou Hwang
1Department of Physical Therapy, College of Medicine, National Cheng Kung University, No. 1, Ta-Hsueh Road, Tainan 701, Taiwan. rjc47@mail.ncku.edu.tw
Insights
Children aged 4-6 years showed greater difficulty walking while performing concurrent tasks, especially complex motor tasks. This highlights the significant cognitive and motor resources required for dual-task walking in young children.
Area of Science:
- Developmental Psychology
- Motor Control
- Cognitive Neuroscience
Background:
- Gait development in children involves complex motor and cognitive processes.
- Understanding dual-task interference is crucial for assessing children's functional abilities.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the impact of concurrent motor and cognitive tasks on gait parameters in 4-6-year-old children.
- To determine how task difficulty affects dual-task costs during walking.
Main Methods:
- Forty-eight children (4-6 years) walked under single-task and dual-task conditions.
- Concurrent tasks included easy/difficult motor (tray carrying) and cognitive (digit repetition) tasks.
- Gait parameters were measured using the GAITRite electronic walkway system.
Main Results:
- Walking alone was easier than dual-task walking.
- Greater dual-task costs were observed with difficult tasks compared to easy tasks.
- Task difficulty significantly impacted motor tasks but not cognitive tasks.
Conclusions:
- Gait in young children requires substantial central processing capacity.
- Walking engages domain- and modality-specific resources, particularly during motor dual-tasking.
- Children's gait is sensitive to concurrent task demands and difficulty.
Abstract:
Forty-eight children, aged 4-6 years, walked while performing or not performing an easy or difficult concurrent motor task (carrying a tray with or without marbles on it) or cognitive task (repeating a series of digits forwards or backwards). The temporal-distance gait parameters were measured using a GAITRite electronic walkway system. Dual-task costs were calculated as the difference between the children's walking performances with and without the concurrent task. Overall, walking alone was easier than walking while performing a concurrent task. A greater dual-task cost was observed when the concurrent task was difficult compared to when it was easy. However, this effect of difficulty was found for the motor task only. The results suggest that walking demands both the central processing capacity and the domain- and modality-specific processing resources in normal 4-6-year-old children.
