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Cognitive-Motor Interference during Dual Tasks in Blind Children
Rabeb Laatar1, Fatma Ben Waer1, Rihab Borji1
1Research Laboratory: Education, Motricité, Sport et Santé, EM2S, LR19JS01, High Institute of Sport and Physical Education of Sfax, University of Sfax, Sfax, Tunisia.
Journal of Motor Behavior
|May 10, 2022
Summary
Blind children show greater balance challenges when performing motor and cognitive tasks simultaneously compared to sighted children. This dual-task interference specifically impacts balance during category fluency tasks.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Developmental Psychology
- Motor Control
Background:
- Dual-tasking involves performing multiple tasks concurrently, challenging cognitive and motor systems.
- Assessing dual-task performance in children with visual impairments provides insight into sensory compensation and motor control adaptations.
- Understanding the interplay between postural control and cognitive load is crucial for rehabilitation and educational strategies.
Purpose of the Study:
- To compare the dual-task (DT) performance of blind children with sighted children during concurrent motor (upright standing) and cognitive (Letter Fluency or Category Fluency) tasks.
- To investigate the effects of dual-tasking on postural control (Center of Pressure mean velocity - CoPVm) and cognitive performance in both groups.
- To identify differences in the impact of dual-task interference on balance between blind and sighted children.
Main Methods:
- Participants: Blind children and typically sighted children.
- Tasks: Single-task (ST) and dual-task (DT) conditions involving upright standing combined with Letter Fluency (LF) or Category Fluency (CF) tasks.
- Measures: Center of Pressure mean velocity (CoPVm) for postural control and cognitive task performance metrics.
Main Results:
- Both blind and sighted children exhibited significantly increased CoPVm in DT compared to ST conditions (p < 0.05).
- Blind children demonstrated significantly higher CoPVm than sighted children exclusively during the DT-CF condition (p < 0.001).
- Cognitive task performance was also affected, though the primary focus was on balance differences.
Conclusions:
- Dual-tasking significantly impacts the balance performance of both blind and typically developing children.
- Motor-cognitive interference during dual-tasking has a more pronounced effect on the balance of blind children compared to their sighted peers.
- This heightened interference in blind children was specifically observed when the Category Fluency task was performed concurrently with postural balance.
