title: The effect of age on postural and cognitive task performance while using vibrotactile feedback.
abstract: Vibrotactile feedback (VTF) has been shown to improve balance performance in healthy people and people with vestibular disorders in a single-task experimental condition. It is unclear how age-related changes in balance affect the ability to use VTF and if there are different attentional requirements for old and young adults when using VTF. Twenty younger and 20 older subjects participated in this two-visit study to examine the effect of age, VTF, sensory condition, cognitive task, duration of time, and visit on postural and cognitive performance. Postural performance outcome measures included root mean square of center of pressure (COP) and trunk tilt, and cognitive performance was assessed using the reaction time (RT) from an auditory choice RT task. The results showed that compared with younger adults, older adults had an increase in COP in fixed platform conditions when using VTF, although they were able to reduce COP during sway-referenced platform conditions. Older adults also did not benefit fully from using VTF in their first session. The RTs for the secondary cognitive tasks increased significantly while using the VTF in both younger and older adults. Older adults had a larger increase compared with younger adults, suggesting that greater attentional demands were required in older adults when using VTF information. Future training protocols for VTF should take into consideration the effect of aging.
authors.affiliation: Department of Physical Therapy, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; Department of Physical Therapy, East Carolina University, Greenville, North Carolina; and linch14@ecu.edu.
authors.forename: Chia-Cheng
authors.initials: CC
authors.lastname: Lin
authors.affiliation: Department of Physical Therapy, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; Department of Otolaryngology, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; Department of Rehabilitation Sciences, College of Applied Medical Sciences, King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
authors.forename: Susan L
authors.initials: SL
authors.lastname: Whitney
authors.affiliation: Department of Bioengineering, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania;
authors.forename: Patrick J
authors.initials: PJ
authors.lastname: Loughlin
authors.affiliation: Department of Physical Therapy, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; Department of Otolaryngology, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; Department of Bioengineering, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania;
authors.forename: Joseph M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Furman
authors.affiliation: Department of Physical Therapy, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; Department of Otolaryngology, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; Department of Bioengineering, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania;
authors.forename: Mark S
authors.initials: MS
authors.lastname: Redfern
authors.affiliation: Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan; Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan;
authors.forename: Kathleen H
authors.initials: KH
authors.lastname: Sienko
authors.affiliation: Department of Physical Therapy, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; Department of Otolaryngology, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; Department of Bioengineering, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania;
authors.forename: Patrick J
authors.initials: PJ
authors.lastname: Sparto
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000375:Aging / Q000502:physiology* / Q000523:psychology; D003071:Cognition / Q000502:physiology*; D025461:Feedback, Physiological / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D004856:Postural Balance / Q000502:physiology*; D011597:Psychomotor Performance / Q000502:physiology*; D011930:Reaction Time / Q000502:physiology; D014110:Touch / Q000502:physiology; D014732:Vibration; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: aging; balance; dual task; postural sway; reaction time; sensory substitution; vibrotactile feedback