TY - JOUR
T1 - Cognitive involvement in balance, gait and dual-tasking in aging
T2 - A focused review from a neuroscience of aging perspective
AU - Li, Karen Z.H.
AU - Bherer, Louis
AU - Mirelman, Anat
AU - Maidan, Inbal
AU - Hausdorff, Jeffrey M.
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
Copyright © 2018 Li, Bherer, Mirelman, Maidan and Hausdorff. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
PY - 2018/10/29
Y1 - 2018/10/29
N2 - A substantial corpus of evidence suggests that the cognitive involvement in postural control and gait increases with aging. A large portion of such studies were based on dual-task experimental designs, which typically use the simultaneous performance of a motor task (e.g., static or dynamic balancing, walking) and a continuous cognitive task (e.g., mental arithmetic, tone detection). This focused review takes a cognitive neuroscience of aging perspective in interpreting cognitive motor dual-task findings. Specifically, we consider the importance of identifying the neural circuits that are engaged by the cognitive task in relation to those that are engaged during motor task performance. Following the principle of neural overlap, dual-task interference should be greatest when the cognitive and motor tasks engage the same neural circuits. Moreover, the literature on brain aging in general, and models of dedifferentiation and compensation, in particular, suggest that in cognitive motor dual-task performance, the cognitive task engages different neural substrates in young as compared to older adults. Also considered is the concept of multisensory aging, and the degree to which the age-related decline of other systems (e.g., vision, hearing) contribute to cognitive load. Finally, we discuss recent work on focused cognitive training, exercise and multimodal training of older adults and their effects on postural and gait outcomes. In keeping with the principle of neural overlap, the available cognitive training research suggests that targeting processes such as dividing attention and inhibition lead to improved balance and gait in older adults. However, more studies are needed that include functional neuroimaging during actual, upright performance of gait and balance tasks, in order to directly test the principle of neural overlap, and to better optimize the design of intervention studies to improve gait and posture.
AB - A substantial corpus of evidence suggests that the cognitive involvement in postural control and gait increases with aging. A large portion of such studies were based on dual-task experimental designs, which typically use the simultaneous performance of a motor task (e.g., static or dynamic balancing, walking) and a continuous cognitive task (e.g., mental arithmetic, tone detection). This focused review takes a cognitive neuroscience of aging perspective in interpreting cognitive motor dual-task findings. Specifically, we consider the importance of identifying the neural circuits that are engaged by the cognitive task in relation to those that are engaged during motor task performance. Following the principle of neural overlap, dual-task interference should be greatest when the cognitive and motor tasks engage the same neural circuits. Moreover, the literature on brain aging in general, and models of dedifferentiation and compensation, in particular, suggest that in cognitive motor dual-task performance, the cognitive task engages different neural substrates in young as compared to older adults. Also considered is the concept of multisensory aging, and the degree to which the age-related decline of other systems (e.g., vision, hearing) contribute to cognitive load. Finally, we discuss recent work on focused cognitive training, exercise and multimodal training of older adults and their effects on postural and gait outcomes. In keeping with the principle of neural overlap, the available cognitive training research suggests that targeting processes such as dividing attention and inhibition lead to improved balance and gait in older adults. However, more studies are needed that include functional neuroimaging during actual, upright performance of gait and balance tasks, in order to directly test the principle of neural overlap, and to better optimize the design of intervention studies to improve gait and posture.
KW - Aging
KW - Balance
KW - Cognition
KW - Cognitive training
KW - Dual task
KW - Gait
KW - Motor-cognitive interference
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85055788085&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.3389/fneur.2018.00913
DO - 10.3389/fneur.2018.00913
M3 - ???researchoutput.researchoutputtypes.contributiontojournal.systematicreview???
AN - SCOPUS:85055788085
SN - 1664-2295
VL - 9
JO - Frontiers in Neurology
JF - Frontiers in Neurology
IS - OCT
M1 - 913
ER -