title: Dual-task performance in young and older adults: speed-accuracy tradeoffs in choice responding while treadmill walking.
abstract: Thirty-one young (mean age = 20.8 years) and 30 older (mean age = 71.5 years) men and women categorized as physically active (n = 30) or inactive (n = 31) performed an executive processing task while standing, treadmill walking at a preferred pace, and treadmill walking at a faster pace. Dual-task interference was predicted to negatively impact older adults' cognitive flexibility as measured by an auditory switch task more than younger adults; further, participants' level of physical activity was predicted to mitigate the relation. For older adults, treadmill walking was accompanied by significantly more rapid response times and reductions in local- and mixed-switch costs. A speed-accuracy tradeoff was observed in which response errors increased linearly as walking speed increased, suggesting that locomotion under dual-task conditions degrades the quality of older adults' cognitive flexibility. Participants' level of physical activity did not influence cognitive test performance.
authors.affiliation: University of Georgia, Athens, GA.
authors.forename: Phillip D
authors.initials: PD
authors.lastname: Tomporowski
authors.forename: Michel
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Audiffren
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000375:Aging / Q000502:physiology / Q000523:psychology; D003071:Cognition / Q000502:physiology; D061827:Dimensional Measurement Accuracy; D005080:Exercise Test / Q000379:methods*; D005260:Female; D005684:Gait / Q000502:physiology; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D004856:Postural Balance / Q000502:physiology*; D011597:Psychomotor Performance; D011930:Reaction Time; D013647:Task Performance and Analysis; D016138:Walking / Q000502:physiology*