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Influence of cognitive demand and auditory noise on postural dynamics
Sam Carey1, Ramesh Balasubramaniam2
1Sensorimotor Neuroscience Laboratory, Cognitive and Information Sciences, University of California, 5200 N Lake Road, Merced, CA, 95343, USA. scarey5@ucmerced.edu.
Experimental Brain Research
|February 1, 2025
Summary
Cognitive tasks impair human balance control, but adding sensory noise can mitigate this effect. This study investigated how working memory load and auditory noise influence postural stability in young adults.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Human motor control
- Cognitive science
Background:
- Human balance relies on integrated motor, cognitive, and sensory systems.
- Cognitive tasks can negatively impact motor performance.
- Sensory noise has been shown to potentially benefit motor control.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the impact of a concurrent working memory task on postural control.
- To determine if additive sensory noise can counteract cognitive load's negative effects on balance.
- To analyze postural sway dynamics across different cognitive demands and sensory noise conditions.
Main Methods:
- Healthy young adults performed a modified N-back task with varying difficulty levels.
- Postural sway was recorded during cognitive task performance.
- Auditory noise was introduced as a concurrent sensory manipulation.
Main Results:
- Postural stability decreased as cognitive task difficulty increased.
- The negative impact of cognitive load on postural stability was reduced by additive auditory noise.
- Analysis of postural sway frequency bands revealed differential effects of cognitive load and sensory noise.
Conclusions:
- Postural control is sensitive to cognitive load, with higher demands leading to reduced stability.
- Additive sensory noise can modulate the detrimental effects of cognitive demand on balance.
- Both exploratory and feedback-driven postural dynamics are influenced by cognitive load and sensory information levels.
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