Color-induced cognitive conflicts affect muscle activity prior to gait initiation in the Go/No-go task

Area of Science:

• Motor control
• Cognitive neuroscience
• Biomechanics

Background:

• Prior knowledge of traffic signal colors (green/blue=go, red=stop) influences reaction times in button-press tasks.
• This effect on cognitive-motor tasks is well-documented but not extensively studied for different actions like gait initiation.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate how prior knowledge of traffic signal colors affects gait initiation in a Go/No-go task.
• To determine if cognitive conflicts impact motor control during the initiation of gait.

Main Methods:

• Seventeen participants performed Green Go/Red No-go and Red Go/Green No-go gait initiation tasks.
• Center of pressure (COP) and electromyogram (EMG) from tibialis anterior muscles were recorded.

Main Results:

• No significant differences were found in COP movement onset, toe-off time, or COP displacements between the tasks.
• EMG onset for the stance leg was significantly delayed in the Red Go/Green No-go task compared to the Green Go/Red No-go task.

Conclusions:

• Cognitive conflict from traffic signal knowledge affects muscle activity but not COP characteristics during gait initiation.
• This dissociation suggests distinct motor control mechanisms, with initial gait phases influenced by cognitive load and later phases relying on robust spinal mechanisms.