Axial Segmental Coordination During Turning: Effects of Stroke and Attentional Loadings

Attentional loadings deteriorate straight walking performance for individuals poststroke, but its effects on turning while walking remain to be determined. Here we compared turning kinematics under three attentional loading conditions (single, dual-motor, and dual-cognitive task) between stroke survivors and healthy controls. Nine chronic stroke survivors and 10 healthy controls performed the Timed Upand- Go test while their full-body kinematics were recorded. Onset times of yaw rotation of the head, thorax and pelvis segments and head anticipation distance were used to quantify turning coordination. Results showed that stroke survivors reoriented their body segments much earlier than the controls, but they preserved the similar segmental reorientation sequence under the single-task condition. For the healthy controls, attentional loading led to an earlier axial segment reorientation, but the reorientation sequence was preserved. In contrast, the dual-cognitive task condition led to a disrupted reorientation sequence in stroke. The results indicate that turning coordination was altered in individuals poststroke, especially under the dual-task interference.