Mobility and communication in young healthy adults
Abstract
Walking is often coupled with an additional task, termed dual-task behavior. In healthy adults, performing another task while walking often results in decreased performance of the concurrent task and reduced gait speed. However, the results of these studies are mixed, possibly due to the wide range of concurrent tasks observed. Typically, concurrent tasks are selected to manipulate a facet of cognition and may influence gait because they are novel, discrete, or rhythmic. To extend the observation to behavior that is well-practiced, continuous, and non-rhythmic, conversational speech provides an ideal concurrent task. Our purpose was to investigate the interdependence of gait and speech in young healthy adults. Sixteen adults (9 males, 22±1.4 yrs) performed four tasks silently and while talking: (1) Seated; (2) Unobstructed Gait (3) Obstacle Crossing; (4) Obstacle Crossing with Tray Carrying. Gait and speech measures were analyzed. Speaking resulted in a decrease in gait speed and step length and an increase in percent double support during unobstructed gait. However, gait was not different while speaking during obstructed gait, or while carrying a tray. Speech measures reflected decreased language formulation in the obstacle crossing condition, possibly because of an additional tax to working memory. Overall, an apparent tradeoff between speech production and gait was observed. Communication was apparently prioritized during the low-level challenge, but as stability was challenged, gait was prioritized. This may reflect the higher priority of communication during tasks that do not challenge stability, as the subject may prefer appearing articulate in a familiar and stable situation. However, to successfully perform a challenging gait task while speaking, an adaptive strategy of preserving the gait task was employed by young adults.
Degree
M.S.
Advisors
Rietdyk, Purdue University.
Subject Area
Kinesiology
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