Dual-Task Effect on Center of Pressure Oscillations and Prefrontal Cortex Activation Between Young and Older Adults

Purpose: This study aimed to investigate the dual-task effect on conventional center of pressure (CoP) outcomes, CoP oscillations, and prefrontal cortex (PFC) activation between young and older adults. Methods: Fourteen healthy older adults (age: 66.25 ± 3.43 years) and another fourteen gender-matched young adults (age: 19.80 ± 0.75 years) participated in this study. Participants completed single-task and dual-task standing trials in a fixed order. The displacement of CoP and PFC activation were recorded using a Force plate and a functional near-infrared spectroscopy system, respectively. Two-way MANOVAs were used to examine the group and task effects. Additionally, the Pearson correlation analyses were used to investigate the relationship between CoP oscillations and PFC activation. Results: Our results showed a worse balance performance, greater CoP oscillations of 0-0.1 (11.03 ± 8.24 vs. 23.20 ± 12.54 cm²) and 0.1-0.5 (13.62 ± 9.30 vs. 30.00 ± 23.12 cm²) Hz in the medial-lateral direction and higher right (dorsomedial: -0.0003 ± 0.021 vs. 0.021 ± 0.021 & ventrolateral: 0.0087 ± 0.047 vs. 0.025 ± 0.045 mol/ml) and left (dorsomedial: 0.0033 ± 0.024 vs. 0.020 ± 0.025 & ventrolateral: 0.0060 ± 0.037 vs. 0.034 ± 0.037 mol/ml) PFC activation in response to a secondary cognitive task in older adults (p < .05). Older adults also showed significant positive correlations between CoP oscillations in the anterior-posterior direction and PFC activation under the single-task standing. Conclusion: These results suggest that older adults presented a loss of postural automaticity contributing to cognitive dysfunction. Moreover, heightened CoP oscillations at 0-0.5 Hz in response to a secondary cognitive task could provide evidence of a loss of automaticity, which might be associated with a greater reliance on the sensory inputs.