title: Interstimulus Intervals and Sensory Modality Modulate the Impact of a Cognitive Task on Postural Control.
abstract: The present literature not only reveals the use of a wide variety of cognitive tasks but variability in their interaction with postural control. The question then arises, as to, whether postural control is sensitive to specific features of a cognitive task. The present experiment assessed the impact of cognitive tasks with interstimulus intervals (ISI) of varied duration and sensory modality on postural control in young adults. Seventeen participants (23.71 ± 1.99 years old) were instructed to stand on a force platform while concurrently performing cognitive tasks with ISIs of two and 5 s. The tasks were presented both, auditorily and visually. The visual tasks consisted of counting the total occurrence of a single digit. The auditory tasks consisted of counting the total occurrence of a single letter. Performing the cognitive tasks with an ISI of 2 s resulted only in an increase in the anteroposterior mean power frequency. Presenting the tasks visually also significantly reduced area of 95% confidence ellipse and AP and mediolateral sway variability. These results may suggest that ISIs can modify postural performance by altering the allocation of attentional focus. Also, presenting tasks using a visual sensory modality appears to yield lower postural sway.
authors.affiliation: a School of Human Kinetics, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Ottawa , Ottawa , Canada.
authors.forename: Nadia
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Polskaia
authors.affiliation: a School of Human Kinetics, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Ottawa , Ottawa , Canada.
authors.forename: Yves
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Lajoie
mesh_terms: D000161:Acoustic Stimulation; D001288:Attention / Q000502:physiology; D003071:Cognition / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D010775:Photic Stimulation; D004856:Postural Balance / Q000502:physiology*; D011597:Psychomotor Performance / Q000502:physiology*; D013997:Time Factors; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: cognitive tasks; dual-task; postural control; sensory modality