Mapping the neural substrate of high dual-task gait cost in older adults across the cognitive spectrum

The dual task cost of gait (DTC) is an accessible and cost-effective test that can help identify individuals with cognitive decline and dementia. However, its neural substrate has not been widely described. This study aims to investigate the neural substrate of the high DTC in older adults across the spectrum of cognitive decline. A total of 336 individuals from the GAIT study cohort were analyzed, including cognitively healthy (N = 122, 71 ± 3.6 years), those with mild cognitive impairment (N = 168, 71 ± 5.3 years), and those with dementia (N = 46, 80 ± 5.7 years). A DTC of 20% or greater was considered to indicate a high level of slowing down while performing successively two verbal tasks (counting backwards task by ones and naming animals). Voxel-based morphometry was employed to investigate differences in gray matter volume (GMV) between groups, which were dichotomized according to the DTC. A high DTC in the whole population (N = 336) was associated with a smaller GMV in the bilateral temporal lobe across both dual-task conditions. A moderation analysis was employed to compare the neural substrate between cognitive status groups. This revealed that the dementia group exhibited an additional cluster located in the left precentral gyrus with GMV loss associated with a high naming animals DTC, in contrast to the other cognitive groups. These results provide new evidence on why dual-task gait capabilities deteriorate in normal and pathological cognitive aging. A more precise understanding of the neural substrate associated with high DTC and cognitive status would help elucidate its use in clinical and research settings.