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Multiple Object Tracking While Walking: Similarities and Differences Between Young, Young-Old, and Old-Old Adults.
Kristell Pothier1, Nicolas Benguigui2, Richard Kulpa3
1Institut national de la santé et de la recherche médicale, U1075 COMETE, Caen, France. Normandie University, School of Medicine, Caen, France. University of Caen Basse-Normandie, COMETE Laboratory (Mobilités: Orientation, Attention et Chronobiologie), Caen, France. Department of Rheumatology, CHU (Centre Hospitalier Universitaire) de Caen, France. pothier-k@phycog.org.
Older adults show reduced performance in dual-task walking as cognitive load increases. Young-old adults initially match young adults but decline significantly under high cognitive demand, suggesting age-related changes in dual-tasking ability.
Area of Science:
- Gerontology
- Cognitive Neuroscience
- Biomechanics
Background:
- Dual-tasking, such as walking while performing another activity, becomes more challenging with age.
- Understanding age-related changes in dual-task performance is crucial for assessing mobility and fall risk in older adults.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate how dual-task walking performance changes across different age groups, with a focus on older adults.
- To examine the impact of increasing cognitive load on the ability to perform walking and a secondary visuospatial task simultaneously.
Main Methods:
- A dual-task paradigm was created, combining walking on an 8-m walkway with a multiple object tracking (MOT) task of varying difficulty.
- Participants included young adults (23.85 ± 2.09 years), young-old adults (63.89 ± 3.32 years), and old-old adults (80.83 ± 3.84 years).
Main Results:
- All age groups showed decreased MOT performance as task complexity increased.
- Age-related declines in both MOT and gait performance were observed.
- Young-old adults performed similarly to young adults under low cognitive load but as poorly as old-old adults under high cognitive load during dual-tasking.
Conclusions:
- The findings highlight distinct dual-task performance profiles between different age groups of older adults.
- These differences may be attributed to varying compensation strategies and an increased risk of falling in older individuals, particularly under high attentional demands.
