Understanding Age-Related Interference in Cognitive-Motor Dual-Task Performance: A Novel Approach

Area of Science:

• Cognitive psychology
• Neuroscience
• Human factors engineering

Background:

• Dual-task (DT) performance is influenced by task control modes: environment-driven and self-generated.
• Understanding how these control modes affect cognitive and motor interference is crucial for designing effective cognitive assessments.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the differential effects of environment-driven versus self-generated cognitive tasks on cognitive and motor interference.
• To compare these effects across different age groups (older vs. younger adults).

Main Methods:

• An exploratory study involving 17 older adults (OLD) and 15 younger adults (YOUNG).
• Participants completed single-task (ST) and dual-task (DT) tests involving motor, environment-driven cognitive, and self-generated cognitive tasks.
• Cognitive and motor dual-task effects (DTE) were calculated to quantify interference.

Main Results:

• The self-generated dual-task effect (DTE) was significantly greater in the motor task compared to cognitive tasks, especially in the older adult group.
• No significant difference was observed for the environment-driven DTE between motor and cognitive tasks.
• In motor tasks, self-generated tasks induced more interference than environment-driven tasks across all participants, a pattern not observed in cognitive tasks.

Conclusions:

• Self-generated cognitive tasks impose greater interference on motor performance than environment-driven tasks, particularly for older adults.
• These findings suggest that task control mode is a critical factor in dual-task interference and has implications for designing interference-efficient tests.
• The study validates previous findings on gait tasks and extends them to complex motor tasks, informing future research in cognitive and motor control.