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Measuring the Switch Cost of Smartphone Use While Walking

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Walking while Performing Working Memory Tasks Changes the Prefrontal Cortex Hemodynamic Activations and Gait

Ming-I B Lin¹, Kuan-Hung Lin¹

¹Department of Industrial and Information Management, National Cheng Kung University Tainan, Taiwan.

Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience

|June 1, 2016

Summary

Dual-tasking while walking, especially with complex cognitive tasks or challenging environments, impairs gait and executive function. Brain activity patterns shift to manage cognitive-motor demands during ambulation.

Keywords:

NIRS cognitive dual task gait kinematic n-back obstacle

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Area of Science:

Neuroscience
Biomechanics
Cognitive Psychology

Background:

Dual-tasking negatively impacts gait performance.
Cognitive processes and limb coordination in complex walking environments require further investigation.

Purpose of the Study:

Investigate how cognitive task complexity and walking environment affect neural correlates of executive function and postural control during dual-task walking.

Main Methods:

24 young adults performed overground walks in varied conditions (wide, narrow, obstacle) with different cognitive loads (1-back, 3-back).
Functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) measured prefrontal brain activation.
3D motion analysis captured gait performance and lower-extremity kinematics.

Main Results:

Walking reduced n-back task accuracy, particularly with obstacles.
Dual-tasking led to slower gait speed, longer stride time, shorter step length, and increased gait variability.
Complex cognitive tasks and challenging walking environments altered gait parameters and brain oxygenation levels (HbO).

Conclusions:

Cognitive load and walking environment significantly alter neural executive function and postural control.
Challenging cognitive-motor interactions during ambulation may induce shifts in brain activation patterns.