scholarly journals Testing the Limits of Optimizing Dual-Task Performance in Younger and Older Adults

2012 ◽  
Vol 6 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tilo Strobach ◽  
Peter Frensch ◽  
Herrmann Josef Müller ◽  
Torsten Schubert
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Task Performance ◽  
Dual Task ◽  
Dual Task Performance

scholarly journals The Association between High Neuroticism-Low Extraversion and Dual-Task Performance during Walking While Talking in Non-demented Older Adults

2015 ◽  
Vol 21 (7) ◽  
pp. 519-530 ◽  
Author(s):  
Brittany C. LeMonda ◽  
Jeannette R. Mahoney ◽  
Joe Verghese ◽  
Roee Holtzer
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Task Performance ◽  
Cognitive Performance ◽  
Dual Task ◽  
Stress Test ◽  
Adverse Outcomes ◽  
Task Demands ◽  
Gait Velocity ◽  
Older Individuals ◽  
Dual Task Performance

AbstractThe Walking While Talking (WWT) dual-task paradigm is a mobility stress test that predicts major outcomes, including falls, frailty, disability, and mortality in aging. Certain personality traits, such as neuroticism, extraversion, and their combination, have been linked to both cognitive and motor outcomes. We examined whether individual differences in personality dimensions of neuroticism and extraversion predicted dual-task performance decrements (both motor and cognitive) on a WWT task in non-demented older adults. We hypothesized that the combined effect of high neuroticism-low extraversion would be related to greater dual-task costs in gait velocity and cognitive performance in non-demented older adults. Participants (N=295; age range,=65–95 years; female=164) completed the Big Five Inventory and WWT task involving concurrent gait and a serial 7’s subtraction task. Gait velocity was obtained using an instrumented walkway. The high neuroticism-low extraversion group incurred greater dual-task costs (i.e., worse performance) in both gait velocity {95% confidence interval (CI) [−17.68 to −3.07]} and cognitive performance (95% CI [−19.34 to −2.44]) compared to the low neuroticism-high extraversion group, suggesting that high neuroticism-low extraversion interferes with the allocation of attentional resources to competing task demands during the WWT task. Older individuals with high neuroticism-low extraversion may be at higher risk for falls, mobility decline and other adverse outcomes in aging. (JINS, 2015, 21, 519–530)

scholarly journals Differences in dual-task performance and prefrontal cortex activation between younger and older adults

2013 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Hironori Ohsugi ◽  
Shohei Ohgi ◽  
Kenta Shigemori ◽  
Eric B Schneider
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Prefrontal Cortex ◽  
Task Performance ◽  
Dual Task ◽  
Dual Task Performance

scholarly journals The Effect of Different Types of Walking on Dual-Task Performance and Task Prioritization among Community-Dwelling Older Adults

2014 ◽  
Vol 2014 ◽  
pp. 1-6 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maayan Agmon ◽  
Einat Kodesh ◽  
Rachel Kizony
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Task Performance ◽  
Dual Task ◽  
Cognitive Task ◽  
Community Dwelling ◽  
Cognitive Tasks ◽  
Dual Task Performance ◽  
Different Types ◽  
Task Prioritization ◽  
Community Dwelling Older Adults

Background. The ability to safely conduct different types of walking concurrently with a cognitive task (i.e., dual task) is crucial for daily life. The contribution of different walking types to dual-task performance has not yet been determined, nor is there agreement on the strategies that older adults use to divide their attention between two tasks (task prioritization).Objectives. To compare the effect of walking in three different directions (forward, backward, and sideways) on dual-task performance and to explore the strategies of older adults to allocate their attention in response to different motor task demands.Design. A cross-sectional study.Subjects. Thirty-two (22 female) community-dwelling older adults (aged72.7±5.7years).Methods. Subjects randomly conducted single and dual task: walking to three directions separately, cognitive tasks separately, and combination of the two.Results. Walking forward was the least demanding task, during single (FW < BW, SW) (P<.001) and dual tasks (FW < BW < SW) (P<.001). The calculation of DTC revealed the same pattern (P<.001). DTC of the cognitive tasks was not significantly different among the three walking types.Conclusions. The decline mainly in the motor performance during dual task indicates that participants prioritized the cognitive task. These findings challenge the “posture first” paradigm for task prioritization.

scholarly journals Effects of motor and cognitive dual-task performance in depressive elderly, healthy older adults, and healthy young individuals

2011 ◽  
Vol 5 (3) ◽  
pp. 198-202 ◽  
Author(s):  
Helena Moraes ◽  
Andrea Deslandes ◽  
Heitor Silveira ◽  
Cynthia Arcoverde ◽  
Heloisa Alve ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Task Performance ◽  
Dual Task ◽  
Cycle Ergometer ◽  
Memory Test ◽  
Maximal Heart Rate ◽  
Healthy Older Adults ◽  
Cycle Ergometer Exercise ◽  
Ergometer Exercise ◽  
Dual Task Performance

Abstract Impairments in dual-task performance can be observed in healthy older adults when motor and cognitive assignments are applied simultaneously. According to the hypofrontality hypothesis, there may be a reduction in frontal cognitive function during exercise. Objective: The aim of the present study was to compare the performance changes on cognitive tests of depressive elderly (n=10), healthy older adults (n=10), and healthy young individuals (n=10) during cycle ergometer exercise. Methods: The groups were submitted to a working memory test, a short memory test and a semantic memory test, before and during a 20-minute cycle ergometer exercise at 80% of their age-predicted maximal heart rate. Results: Significant differences (p=0.04) were observed in scores on the digit backward test during exercise when young individuals were compared to healthy older adults. This result indicates that young subjects, as expected, had better performance than elderly. No significant differences were found among the groups for the digit forward subtest (p=0.40) or the vocabulary test (p=0.69). Conclusion: Data from this study showed that healthy older adults had impaired performance on higher cognitive tasks when these assignments were applied together with motor tasks.

scholarly journals Falls Risk and Simulated Driving Performance in Older Adults

2013 ◽  
Vol 2013 ◽  
pp. 1-8 ◽  
Author(s):  
John G. Gaspar ◽  
Mark B. Neider ◽  
Arthur F. Kramer
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Task Performance ◽  
Dual Task ◽  
Response Times ◽  
Cognitive Task ◽  
Driving Performance ◽  
Unexpected Events ◽  
Falls Risk ◽  
Simulated Driving ◽  
Dual Task Performance

Declines in executive function and dual-task performance have been related to falls in older adults, and recent research suggests that older adults at risk for falls also show impairments on real-world tasks, such as crossing a street. The present study examined whether falls risk was associated with driving performance in a high-fidelity simulator. Participants were classified as high or low falls risk using the Physiological Profile Assessment and completed a number of challenging simulated driving assessments in which they responded quickly to unexpected events. High falls risk drivers had slower response times (~2.1 seconds) to unexpected events compared to low falls risk drivers (~1.7 seconds). Furthermore, when asked to perform a concurrent cognitive task while driving, high falls risk drivers showed greater costs to secondary task performance than did low falls risk drivers, and low falls risk older adults also outperformed high falls risk older adults on a computer-based measure of dual-task performance. Our results suggest that attentional differences between high and low falls risk older adults extend to simulated driving performance.

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