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Postural sway during dual tasks in young and elderly adults
Janina M Prado1, Thomas A Stoffregen, Marcos Duarte
1Neuroscience Program and School of Physical Education and Sport, University of São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil.
Gerontology
|May 19, 2007
Summary
Dual tasking does not worsen postural sway in older adults, even with increased sway amplitude. Visual integration for balance remains effective with aging, challenging resource competition theories.
Area of Science:
- Gerontology
- Biomechanics
- Human Movement Science
Background:
- Healthy young adults can reduce postural sway during concurrent visual tasks.
- Aging is often associated with increased postural sway and potential declines in postural control.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate postural sway during dual-task conditions in young and elderly adults.
- To examine how visual task complexity and target distance affect postural control in different age groups.
Main Methods:
- Twelve elderly (65-75 years) and 12 young (22-39 years) adults stood on a force plate.
- Subjects performed visual tasks (blank target vs. visual search, near vs. far targets) while postural sway and kinematics were measured.
Main Results:
- Elderly adults exhibited greater postural sway than young adults across all conditions.
- Both age groups reduced postural sway during a visual search task and when viewing near targets.
- Cognitive performance (letter counting) was slower in elderly adults, but accuracy was similar to young adults.
Conclusions:
- Aging does not impair the subtle integration of visual information for postural control.
- Dual tasks do not necessarily increase postural sway, even in older adults.
- Findings challenge the notion that age-related postural sway increases are solely due to competition for central processing resources.
