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The effects of a motor and a cognitive concurrent task on walking in children with developmental coordination
Rong-Ju Cherng1, Ling-Yin Liang, Yung-Jung Chen
1Department of Physical Therapy, College of Medicine, National Cheng Kung University, Tainan 701, Taiwan. rjc47@mail.ncku.edu.tw
Insights
Children with developmental coordination disorder (DCD) showed greater walking impairment during dual-tasking, especially with motor tasks and increased difficulty, compared to typically developing peers.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Developmental Psychology
- Motor Control
Background:
- Developmental Coordination Disorder (DCD) affects motor skills in children.
- Understanding how concurrent tasks impact walking in children with DCD is crucial for intervention.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the effects of concurrent task type (cognitive vs. motor) and difficulty (easy vs. hard) on walking in children with DCD.
- To compare dual-task costs in children with DCD versus typically developing children.
Main Methods:
- 10 boys and 4 girls with DCD and 28 controls (age 4-6) performed single-task walking and dual-task walking.
- Dual tasks included carrying objects (motor) and recalling digits (cognitive) at easy and hard difficulty levels.
- Dual-task cost was calculated to quantify walking impairment.
Main Results:
- Children with DCD exhibited significantly higher dual-task costs for walking compared to controls.
- Increased motor task difficulty exacerbated dual-task costs more in children with DCD.
- Cognitive tasks affected walking but showed no significant differences in dual-task costs between groups or difficulty levels.
Conclusions:
- Children with DCD are more susceptible to dual-task interference, particularly with motor-based concurrent tasks.
- Task difficulty amplifies walking challenges in children with DCD during motor dual-tasking.
- Findings highlight the specific motor-related challenges in DCD during complex activities.
Abstract:
The effects of type (cognitive vs. motor) and difficulty level (easy vs. hard) of a concurrent task on walking were examined in 10 boys and 4 girls (age 4-6 years) with developmental coordination disorder (DCD) and 28 age- and gender-matched unaffected children. Each child performed free walking (single task), walking while carrying an empty tray (dual task, the concurrent task being motor and easy), walking while carrying a tray with 7 marbles (the concurrent task being motor and hard), walking while repeating a series of digits forward (the concurrent task being cognitive and easy), and walking while repeating the digits backward (the concurrent task being cognitive and hard). Walking was affected by the concurrent task (i.e., dual-task cost) in the children with DCD more so than in the comparison children. Greater task difficulty also increased the dual-task cost in the children with DCD more so than in the comparison children. These patterns were only noted for the motor concurrent task. The cognitive concurrent task also affected walking, but the dual-task costs did not differ between difficulty levels, nor between the groups.
