title: The effect of cognitive task complexity on gait stability in adolescents following concussion.
abstract: Concussion has been reported to result in disturbances to motor and cognitive functions. One way to examine these disturbances is through a dual-task assessment. Many secondary cognitive tasks have been proposed as appropriate tools during concussion assessment; however, task complexity has not been compared within a dual-task investigation. The purpose of this study was to prospectively examine how gait balance control was affected by three secondary cognitive tasks of varying complexity following concussion. Forty-six adolescents completed a dual-task walking protocol which included walking without any cognitive task (WALK), walking while completing a single auditory Stroop (SAS), multiple auditory Stroop (MAS), and a question and answer task (Q&A). Those who sustained a concussion (n = 23, mean age 15.4 ± 1.3 years) reported to the laboratory within 72 h of injury and in the following time increments: 1 week, 2 weeks, 1 month, and 2 months post-injury. Twenty-three healthy control subjects (mean age 15.4 ± 1.3 years), individually matched to each concussion subject, completed the same protocol in similar time increments. The concussion group demonstrated greater total center of mass (COM) medial/lateral displacement in the MAS and Q&A conditions compared with the control group. The concussion group also displayed the greatest peak COM anterior velocity in the least complex condition (WALK), and a significant decrease was observed as task complexity increased (SAS > MAS > Q&A). These findings indicate that gait balance control may be affected by task complexity following concussion and represent a way to identify motor recovery following concussion.
authors: Department of Human Physiology, 1240 University of Oregon, Eugene, OR, 97401, USA.
authors: David R
authors: DR
authors: Howell
authors: Louis R
authors: LR
authors: Osternig
authors: Michael C
authors: MC
authors: Koester
authors: Li-Shan
authors: LS
authors: Chou
mesh_terms: D000161:Acoustic Stimulation; D000293:Adolescent; D001924:Brain Concussion / Q000150:complications*; D003072:Cognition Disorders / Q000209:etiology*; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D020233:Gait Disorders, Neurologic / Q000209:etiology*; D006801:Humans; D016014:Linear Models; D008297:Male; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D004856:Postural Balance / Q000502:physiology*; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D016138:Walking / Q000502:physiology