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Computerized Dynamic Posturography for Postural Control Assessment in Patients with Intermittent Claudication
Published on: December 11, 2013
Postural costs of performing cognitive tasks in non-coincident reference frames
E V Fraizer1, Mitra Suvobrata, Subhobrata Mitra
1Department of Psychology, Institute of Applied Cognitive Science, University of Warwick, Coventry, CV4 7AL, UK. E.V.Fraizer@warwick.ac.uk
Experimental Brain Research
|October 26, 2007
Summary
Cognitive and postural control tasks interfere when they share the same spatial reference frame. Aligning reference frames reduces performance decrements in dual-tasking scenarios involving posture and cognition.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Human Motor Control
- Cognitive Psychology
Background:
- Dual-tasking between posture and cognitive tasks is often attributed to competition for shared neural resources or sensorimotor interference.
- Existing explanations lack specificity regarding the precise mechanisms underlying posture-cognition interference.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the role of shared spatial reference frames in posture-cognition dual-task interference.
- To determine if aligning or misaligning spatial reference frames impacts performance in dual-tasking scenarios.
Main Methods:
- Utilized immersive visualization and motion-tracking to manipulate spatial reference frames for standing and visual search tasks.
- Experiment 1: Compared performance when visual search reference frames were coincident or non-coincident with the postural task's frame.
- Experiment 2: Assessed performance when visual search was split between coincident and non-coincident frames, controlling for visual information relevant to posture.
Main Results:
- Performing visual search in a non-coincident reference frame significantly impaired both cognitive and postural task performance.
- Postural dual-task decrements occurred even when visual search was divided between coincident and non-coincident frames.
- Performance decrements were observed regardless of whether the visual information was relevant to posture control.
Conclusions:
- Interference between spatial and temporal operations in posture-cognition tasks arises partly from the need to share a common spatial reference frame.
- The costs associated with posture-cognition dual-tasking may reflect the cognitive effort required to maintain alignment between task-specific reference frames.
- Findings suggest that reference frame congruence is crucial for efficient dual-task performance in tasks involving both postural control and cognitive processing.
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