How Older Adults Cope with Cognitive Complexity and Environmental Constraints during Dual-Task Walking: The Role of Executive Function Involvement

Roberta Forte, Caterina Pesce, Angela Di Baldassarre, John Shea, Claudia Voelcker-Rehage, Laura Capranica and Giancarlo Condello
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Roberta Forte: Department of Human Movement and Sports Sciences, University of Rome Foro Italico, 00135 Rome, Italy
Caterina Pesce: Department of Human Movement and Sports Sciences, University of Rome Foro Italico, 00135 Rome, Italy
Angela Di Baldassarre: Department of Medicine and Aging Sciences, “G. d’Annunzio” University of Chieti-Pescara, 66100 Chieti, Italy
John Shea: Department of Kinesiology, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN 47405, USA
Claudia Voelcker-Rehage: Jacobs Center on Lifelong Learning and Institutional Development, Jacobs University Bremen, 28759 Bremen, Germany
Laura Capranica: Department of Human Movement and Sports Sciences, University of Rome Foro Italico, 00135 Rome, Italy
Giancarlo Condello: Graduate Institute of Sports Training, Institute of Sports Sciences, University of Taipei, Taipei City 111, Taiwan

IJERPH, 2019, vol. 16, issue 10, 1-17

Abstract: This cross-sectional study investigated the interactive dual-task (DT) effects of executive function demands and environmental constraints on older adults’ walking and the moderating role of habitual physical activity (PA). Locomotor performance under different environmental constraints (flat versus obstructed walking) and cognitive performance with different executive function involvement (backward counting versus random number generation) were assessed under single-task (ST) and DT conditions in 135 participants (mean age 68.1 ± 8.4). The weekly number of daily steps was measured. Reciprocal DT effects of walking on cognitive performance and of the cognitive task on gait performance were computed and submitted to analyses of covariance with age, PA level, and cognitive functioning as covariates, followed by linear regressions with PA level as predictor. Cognitive task demands and environmental constraints individually and jointly affected gait variability ( p = 0.033, η p 2 = 0.08) and executive function performance ( p = 0.009, η p 2 = 0.09). Physical activity level predicted a low but significant percentage of variance of DT effects on gait only in flat walking (R 2 = 0.04, p = 0.027). Results suggest that older individuals may adopt variable task prioritization in dual tasking depending on the type of executive function involvement and the environmental constraints on walking. Their DT ability was slightly affected by habitual PA.

Keywords: cognition; working memory; gait; obstructed walking; physical activity; aging (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2019
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