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Motor Dual-Tasks for Gait Analysis and Evaluation in Post-Stroke Patients
Published on: March 11, 2021
Dual-task costs for whole trunk movement during gait
Takehiko Doi1, Tsuyoshi Asai, Soichiro Hirata
1Section for Health Promotion, Department of Health and Medical Care Center for Development of Advanced Medicine for Dementia, National Center for Geriatrics and Gerontology, 35 Gengo, Morioka, Obu, Aichi 474-8511, Japan. take-d@ncgg.go.jp
Gait & Posture
|January 18, 2011
Summary
Dual tasks significantly alter trunk movement during gait, especially in the side-to-side (mediolateral) direction. The type of cognitive task, like arithmetic or the Stroop test, influences trunk stabilization in older adults.
Area of Science:
- Biomechanics
- Neuroscience
- Gerontology
Background:
- Trunk movement control is crucial for head stabilization during gait.
- The impact of dual-tasking on trunk movement during walking remains incompletely understood.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate how cognitive dual tasks affect trunk movement control during gait in healthy older adults.
- To compare the effects of an arithmetic task versus a colored Stroop test on trunk movement dynamics.
Main Methods:
- Thirty-four healthy older adults walked a 20m path under three conditions: normal walking, dual-task walking with serial seven subtractions, and dual-task walking with the colored Stroop test.
- Triaxial accelerometers measured trunk accelerations at the lower and upper trunk.
- Trunk Attenuation Rate (TAR) was calculated as the reduction in acceleration from lower to upper trunk.
Main Results:
- Both dual-task conditions significantly altered trunk attenuation rate (TAR) in the mediolateral and vertical directions (p<0.01).
- No significant effects were observed in the anteroposterior direction.
- The reduction in mediolateral TAR was significantly greater during the serial seven subtractions compared to the Stroop test (p<0.01).
Conclusions:
- Dual-tasking influences whole trunk movement during gait, with notable effects in the mediolateral plane.
- The specific cognitive demands of the additional task modulate the changes in trunk movement during gait.
