Dual-task effect on gait in adolescents

AbstractBackgroundThe dual-task effect on walking performance is different during treadmill and overground walking, though the cause of this difference is unknown. This study examined the effects of task prioritization on overground and treadmill dual-task walking. MethodTwenty-two adults walked overground and on a treadmill under three dual-task conditions: prioritization of walking performance, prioritization of cognitive performance, or no prioritization. ResultsCompared to single-task walking, stride velocity was reduced and stride time variability was increased during dual-task overground walking. During treadmill walking, there was no dual-task effect on walking performance, but cognitive task performance was improved. Prioritization of the cognitive task reduced the dual-task effect on stride velocity during overground walking only, whilst prioritization of the walking task reduced cognitive task performance in both walking modalities. SignificanceThese results corroborate recent findings that the dual-task effects on treadmill walking are not equivalent to those on overground walking. Healthy adults appear to prioritize cognitive task performance during dual-task walking. However, the effects of this prioritization on dual-task performance depend on the walking modality.

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Retrieval of a well-established skill is resistant to distraction: Evidence from an implicit probabilistic sequence learning task

PLoS ONE ◽

10.1371/journal.pone.0243541 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 15 (12) ◽

pp. e0243541 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Teodóra Vékony ◽

Lilla Török ◽

Felipe Pedraza ◽

Kate Schipper ◽

Claire Pleche ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Dual Task ◽

Sequence Learning ◽

Secondary Task ◽

Real Life ◽

Reaction Times ◽

Learning Task ◽

Concurrent Task ◽

Sequence Information ◽

Task Effect ◽

Task Conditions

The characteristics of acquiring new sequence information under dual-task situations have been extensively studied. A concurrent task has often been found to affect performance. In real life, however, we mostly perform a secondary task when the primary task is already well acquired. The effect of a secondary task on the ability to retrieve well-established sequence representations remains elusive. The present study investigates whether accessing well-acquired probabilistic sequence knowledge is affected by a concurrent task. Participants acquired non-adjacent regularities in an implicit probabilistic sequence learning task. After a 24-hour offline period, participants were tested on the same probabilistic sequence learning task under dual-task or single-task conditions. Here, we show that although the secondary task significantly prolonged the overall reaction times in the primary (sequence learning) task, access to the previously learned probabilistic representations remained intact. Our results highlight the importance of studying the dual-task effect not only in the learning phase but also during memory access to reveal the robustness of the acquired skill.

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