Related Experiment Video
Updated: Oct 10, 2026
Evaluating Postural Control and Lower-extremity Muscle Activation in Individuals with Chronic Ankle Instability
Published on: September 18, 2020
Effects of Cognitive Loading on Biomechanical and Cognitive-Motor Performance During Jump Landing-Cutting in Chronic
Subeen Wang1, Kyeongtak Song1,2, Ikheon Song3
1Department of Physical Education, Yonsei University, Seoul, Republic of Korea.
Context:
Individuals with chronic ankle instability (CAI) demonstrate a high recurrence rate of ankle sprains during sports activities, even after clinical rehabilitation, suggesting altered biomechanical and cognitive-motor performance under demanding conditions. These deficits may be further exacerbated during dynamic movements under cognitive load. However, previous dual-task studies in individuals with CAI have largely examined biomechanical or cognitive-motor performance outcomes separately, leaving their integrated effects insufficiently understood.
Objectives:
To identify delayed reaction time and increased task failures under visuospatial cognitive load in individuals with CAI compared with healthy controls and to investigate associated changes in lower-extremity kinematics and ground reaction forces during a jump landing-cutting task.
Design:
Cross-sectional study.
Setting:
University research laboratory.
Patients Or Other Participants:
Thirty-two physically active participants were included: 16 individuals with CAI (age = 24.81 ± 2.69 years) and 16 healthy controls (age = 24.00 ± 1.75 years).
Interventions:
Participants performed jump landing-cutting tasks under a single-task condition and a visuospatial cognitive-task condition using a FitLight (FitLight Corp) system.
Main Outcome Measures:
Lower-extremity kinematics, ground reaction forces, and failure counts were assessed in both conditions; reaction time was assessed only in the cognitive-task condition.
Results:
The CAI group demonstrated delayed reaction time compared with healthy controls during the cognitive-task condition (P = .033); however, reaction time in the CAI group decreased across repeated trials (P = .013). Both groups committed more failures in the cognitive-task condition than in the single-task condition (P < .001, ηp2 = 0.45). No significant interactions were observed in terms of biomechanical variables (P > .05).
Conclusions:
Individuals with CAI exhibited clear cognitive-motor deficits under cognitive load, whereas their characteristic biomechanical movement patterns remained unchanged. These findings suggest that cognitive-motor dysfunction may not be adequately captured by biomechanical assessments alone and that integrating both domains may improve evaluation and return-to-play decision-making.
