Postural sway increases with attentional demands of concurrent cognitive task
Section snippets
Participants
Twenty healthy adults (10 men and 10 women, aged 18–30 years) participated after providing informed consent. By self-report, none of the participants had any neurological or balance disorders.
Apparatus
An audiotape recording of pairs of single-digit random numbers was created to provide the stimuli for the cognitive tasks. Pairs of digits were recorded at a rate of 2 digits/s with a 2-s pause between pairs. Center of pressure (COP) data were collected using an AMTI Accusway System for Balance and
Results
For LCOP, ANOVA showed a main effect of cognitive task condition, F(3, 57)=8.09, P<0.001. See Fig. 1. Post hoc analysis showed LCOP was greater for the counting backwards condition than the other three experimental conditions (P<0.01).
ANOVAs on sway range yielded a main effect of cognitive task for AP range, F(3, 57)=9.84, P<0.001 and for ML range, F(3, 57)=3.03, P<0.05. Post hoc comparisons showed greater AP and ML range for the counting back by 3s task than for the other three cognitive
Discussion
The present project demonstrates the impact on postural sway of attentional demands of a concurrent cognitive task. Of note, this finding parallels previous research in which information reduction tasks were used to scale attentional demands. Specifically, information reduction influences short-term memory [18], bimanual coordination [19], and postural sway in a qualitatively similar manner. Collectively, the results of the present study and the findings of Pellecchia and Turvey [19] highlight
Acknowledgements
Preparation of this manuscript was supported by an award from The Patrick and Catherine Weldon Donaghue Medical Research Foundation. The author wishes to acknowledge the contributions to data collection made by A. Fisher, E. Gaffey, K. Greenwood, L. Paschkewitz, A. Rosano, K. Quinn, and A. Weiselfish.
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