VRGaitAnalytics: Visualizing Dual Task Cost for VR Gait Assessment

Abstract The simultaneous performance of a secondary task while walking (i.e., dual tasking) increases motor-cognitive interference and fall risk in older adults. Combining transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) with the concurrent performance of a task that putatively involves the same brain networks targeted by the tDCS may reduce the negative impact of dual-tasking on walking. We examined whether tDCS applied while walking reduces the dual-task costs to gait and whether this combination is better than tDCS alone or walking alone (with sham stimulation). In 25 healthy older adults (aged 75.7±10.5yrs), a double-blind, within-subject, cross-over pilot study evaluated the acute after-effects of 20 minutes of tDCS targeting the primary motor cortex and the dorsal lateral pre frontal cortex during three separate sessions:1) tDCS while walking on a treadmill in a virtual-reality environment (tDCS+walking), 2) tDCS while seated (tDCS+seated), and 3) walking in the virtual-reality environment with sham tDCS (sham+walking). The complex walking condition taxed motor and cognitive abilities. During each session, single- and dual-task walking and cognitive function were assessed before and immediately after stimulation. Compared to pre-tDCS performance, tDCS+walking reduced the dual-task cost to gait speed (p=0.004) and other gait features (e.g., variability p=0.02), and improved (p<0.001) executive function (Stroop interference score). tDCS+seated and sham+walking did not affect the dual-task cost to gait speed (p>0.17). These initial findings demonstrate that tDCS delivered during challenging walking ameliorates dual-task gait and executive function in older adults, suggesting that the concurrent performance of related tasks enhances the efficacy of the neural stimulation and mobility.

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EXPRESS: Attention in Post-Lexical Processes of Utterance Production: Dual-Task Cost in Younger and Older Adults

Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology ◽

10.1177/17470218211034130 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 174702182110341

Author(s):

Maryll Fournet ◽

Michaela Pernon ◽

Sabina Catalano Chiuvé ◽

Ursula Lopez ◽

Marina Laganaro

Keyword(s):

Older Adults ◽

Dual Task ◽

Verbal Fluency ◽

Verbal Task ◽

Lexical Selection ◽

Speech Task ◽

Verbal Fluency Task ◽

Dual Task Cost ◽

Lexical Processes ◽

Fluency Task

There is a general agreement that speaking requires attention at least for conceptual and lexical processes of utterance production. However, conflicting results have been obtained with dual-task paradigms using either repetition tasks or more generally tasks involving limited loading of lexical selection. This study aimed to investigate whether post-lexical processes recruit attentional resources. We used a new dual-task paradigm in a set of experiments where a continuous verbal production task involved either high or low demand on lexical selection processes. Experiment 1 evaluates lexical and post-lexical processes with a semantic verbal fluency task, whereas experiments 2 and 3 focus on post-lexical processes with a non-propositional speech task. In each experiment, two types of non-verbal secondary tasks were used: processing speed (simple manual reaction times) or inhibition (Go/No-go). In Experiment 1, a dual-task cost was observed on the semantic verbal fluency task and each non-verbal task. In Experiment 2, a dual-task cost appeared on the non-verbal tasks but not on the speech task. The same paradigm was used with older adults (Experiment 3), as increased effort in post-lexical processes has been associated with ageing. For older adults, a dual-task cost was also observed on the non-propositional verbal task when speech was produced with the inhibition non-verbal task. The results suggest an attentional cost on post-lexical processes and strategic effects in the resolution of the dual-task.

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Independent and sensitive gait parameters for objective evaluation in knee and hip osteoarthritis using wearable sensors

BMC Musculoskeletal Disorders ◽

10.1186/s12891-021-04074-2 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 22 (1) ◽

Author(s):

Ramon J. Boekesteijn ◽

José M. H. Smolders ◽

Vincent J. J. F. Busch ◽

Alexander C. H. Geurts ◽

Katrijn Smulders

Keyword(s):

Dual Task ◽

Wearable Sensors ◽

Body Motion ◽

Effect Sizes ◽

Upper Body ◽

Healthy Controls ◽

Gait Parameters ◽

Dual Task Cost ◽

Dual Task Performance ◽

Spatiotemporal Parameters

Abstract Background Although it is well-established that osteoarthritis (OA) impairs daily-life gait, objective gait assessments are not part of routine clinical evaluation. Wearable inertial sensors provide an easily accessible and fast way to routinely evaluate gait quality in clinical settings. However, during these assessments, more complex and meaningful aspects of daily-life gait, including turning, dual-task performance, and upper body motion, are often overlooked. The aim of this study was therefore to investigate turning, dual-task performance, and upper body motion in individuals with knee or hip OA in addition to more commonly assessed spatiotemporal gait parameters using wearable sensors. Methods Gait was compared between individuals with unilateral knee (n = 25) or hip OA (n = 26) scheduled for joint replacement, and healthy controls (n = 27). For 2 min, participants walked back and forth along a 6-m trajectory making 180° turns, with and without a secondary cognitive task. Gait parameters were collected using 4 inertial measurement units on the feet and trunk. To test if dual-task gait, turning, and upper body motion had added value above spatiotemporal parameters, a factor analysis was conducted. Effect sizes were computed as standardized mean difference between OA groups and healthy controls to identify parameters from these gait domains that were sensitive to knee or hip OA. Results Four independent domains of gait were obtained: speed-spatial, speed-temporal, dual-task cost, and upper body motion. Turning parameters constituted a gait domain together with cadence. From the domains that were obtained, stride length (speed-spatial) and cadence (speed-temporal) had the strongest effect sizes for both knee and hip OA. Upper body motion (lumbar sagittal range of motion), showed a strong effect size when comparing hip OA with healthy controls. Parameters reflecting dual-task cost were not sensitive to knee or hip OA. Conclusions Besides more commonly reported spatiotemporal parameters, only upper body motion provided non-redundant and sensitive parameters representing gait adaptations in individuals with hip OA. Turning parameters were sensitive to knee and hip OA, but were not independent from speed-related gait parameters. Dual-task parameters had limited additional value for evaluating gait in knee and hip OA, although dual-task cost constituted a separate gait domain. Future steps should include testing responsiveness of these gait domains to interventions aiming to improve mobility.

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THE DUAL-TASK COST IS DUE TO NEURAL INTERFERENCES DISRUPTING THE OPTIMAL SPATIO-TEMPORAL DYNAMICS OF THE COMPETING TASKS

10.1101/2020.12.07.414953 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Diego Mac-Auliffe ◽

Benoit Chatard ◽

Mathilde Petton ◽

Anne-Claire Croizé ◽

Florian Sipp ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Dual Task ◽

Temporal Dynamics ◽

Anterior Cingulate ◽

List Type ◽

Intracranial Eeg ◽

Ample Evidence ◽

Dual Tasking ◽

Dual Task Cost ◽

Neural Origin ◽

Spatio Temporal

ABSTRACTDual-tasking is extremely prominent nowadays, despite ample evidence that it comes with a performance cost: the Dual-Task (DT) cost. Neuroimaging studies have established that tasks are more likely to interfere if they rely on common brain regions, but the precise neural origin of the DT cost has proven elusive so far, mostly because fMRI does not record neural activity directly and cannot reveal the key effect of timing, and how the spatio-temporal neural dynamics of the tasks coincide.Recently, DT electrophysiological studies in monkeys have recorded neural populations shared by the two tasks with millisecond precision to provide a much finer understanding of the origin of the DT cost. We used a similar approach in humans, with intracranial EEG, to assess the neural origin of the DT cost in a particularly challenging naturalistic paradigm which required accurate motor responses to frequent visual stimuli (task T1) and the retrieval of information from long-term memory (task T2), as when answering passengers’ questions while driving.We found that T2 elicited neuroelectric interferences in the gamma-band (>40 Hz), in key regions of the T1 network including the Multiple Demand Network. They reproduced the effect of disruptive electrocortical stimulations to create a situation of dynamical incompatibility, which might explain the DT cost. Yet, participants were able to flexibly adapt their strategy to minimize interference, and most surprisingly, reduce the reliance of T1 on key regions of the executive control network – the anterior insula and the dorsal anterior cingulate cortex – with no performance decrement.HIGHLIGHTS- First direct evidence in humans of neural interferences between two tasks.- First explanation of the Dual-Task cost at the neural level in humans.- First Dual-Tasking study with intracranial EEG in naturalistic conditions.

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Mild Traumatic Brain Injury is Associated with Increased Dual Task Cost During Ambulation

American Journal of Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation ◽

10.1097/phm.0000000000001830 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol Publish Ahead of Print ◽

Author(s):

Shanti M. Pinto ◽

Mark A. Newman ◽

Michael S. Runyon ◽

Michael Gibbs ◽

Lori M. Grafton ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Traumatic Brain Injury ◽

Brain Injury ◽

Mild Traumatic Brain Injury ◽

Dual Task ◽

Dual Task Cost

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Dual task cost in balance control and stability in children from 4–7 years old

Early Child Development and Care ◽

10.1080/03004430.2019.1590349 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 190 (16) ◽

pp. 2533-2542 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Israel Villarrasa-Sapiña ◽

Isaac Estevan ◽

Luis-Millan Gonzalez ◽

Adrià Marco-Ahulló ◽

Xavier García-Massó

Keyword(s):

Dual Task ◽

Balance Control ◽

Dual Task Cost

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Building a Framework for a Dual Task Taxonomy

BioMed Research International ◽

10.1155/2015/591475 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 2015 ◽

pp. 1-10 ◽

Cited By ~ 55

Author(s):

Tara L. McIsaac ◽

Eric M. Lamberg ◽

Lisa M. Muratori

Keyword(s):

Dual Task ◽

Operational Definition ◽

Task Interference ◽

Single Task ◽

The Past ◽

Single Body ◽

Dual Task Cost ◽

Definition Of ◽

Dual Task Interference ◽

Task Taxonomy

The study of dual task interference has gained increasing attention in the literature for the past 35 years, with six MEDLINE citations in 1979 growing to 351 citations indexed in 2014 and a peak of 454 cited papers in 2013. Increasingly, researchers are examining dual task cost in individuals with pathology, including those with neurodegenerative diseases. While the influence of these papers has extended from the laboratory to the clinic, the field has evolved without clear definitions of commonly used terms and with extreme variations in experimental procedures. As a result, it is difficult to examine the interference literature as a single body of work. In this paper we present a new taxonomy for classifying cognitive-motor and motor-motor interference within the study of dual task behaviors that connects traditional concepts of learning and principles of motor control with current issues of multitasking analysis. As a first step in the process we provide an operational definition of dual task, distinguishing it from a complex single task. We present this new taxonomy, inclusive of both cognitive and motor modalities, as a working model; one that we hope will generate discussion and create a framework from which one can view previous studies and develop questions of interest.

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Effects of the agility boot camp with cognitive challenge (ABC-C) exercise program for Parkinson’s disease

npj Parkinson s Disease ◽

10.1038/s41531-020-00132-z ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 6 (1) ◽

Author(s):

Se Hee Jung ◽

Naoya Hasegawa ◽

Martina Mancini ◽

Laurie A. King ◽

Patricia Carlson-Kuhta ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Parkinson’S Disease ◽

Parkinson's Disease ◽

Dual Task ◽

Gait Speed ◽

Treatment Effects ◽

Exercise Intervention ◽

Boot Camp ◽

Dual Task Cost ◽

Cognitive Challenge ◽

Updrs Part

Abstract Few exercise interventions practice both gait and balance tasks with cognitive tasks to improve functional mobility in people with PD. We aimed to investigate whether the Agility Boot Camp with Cognitive Challenge (ABC-C), that simultaneously targets both mobility and cognitive function, improves dynamic balance and dual-task gait in individuals with Parkinson’s disease (PD). We used a cross-over, single-blind, randomized controlled trial to determine efficacy of the exercise intervention. Eighty-six people with idiopathic PD were randomized into either an exercise (ABC-C)-first or an active, placebo, education-first intervention and then crossed over to the other intervention. Both interventions were carried out in small groups led by a certified exercise trainer (90-min sessions, 3 times a week, for 6 weeks). Outcome measures were assessed Off levodopa at baseline and after the first and second interventions. A linear mixed-effects model tested the treatment effects on the Mini-BESTest for balance, dual-task cost on gait speed, SCOPA-COG, the UPDRS Parts II and III and the PDQ-39. Although no significant treatment effects were observed for the Mini-BESTest, SCOPA-COG or MDS-UPDRS Part III, the ABC-C intervention significantly improved the following outcomes: anticipatory postural adjustment sub-score of the Mini-BESTest (p = 0.004), dual-task cost on gait speed (p = 0.001), MDS-UPDRS Part II score (p = 0.01), PIGD sub-score of MDS-UPDRS Part III (p = 0.02), and the activities of daily living domain of the PDQ-39 (p = 0.003). Participants with more severe motor impairment or more severe cognitive dysfunction improved their total Mini-BESTest scores after exercise. The ABC-C exercise intervention can improve specific balance deficits, cognitive-gait interference, and perceived functional independence and quality of life, especially in participants with more severe PD, but a longer period of intervention may be required to improve global cognitive and motor function.

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