title: Executive dysfunction following a mild traumatic brain injury revealed in early adolescence with locomotor-cognitive dual-tasks.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To compare gait parameters between children in early adolescence (EA) with and without a mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI) during dual-task walking (DTW).
  
  
  METHODS
  Children in EA with mTBI (n = 14; six girls) were compared to those without (n = 13; five girls) while walking in different combinations of obstacle avoidance and cognitive dual-tasks. Gait speed and fluidity and their related dual-task costs (DTC) were analysed along with foot clearance and proximity to the obstacle.
  
  
  RESULTS
  No group effects were found for gait speed, proximity or clearance, but were found for fluidity DTC, specifically during the dual Stroop task and when crossing the deeper obstacle. There were also group differences for fluidity during the planning of obstacle avoidance for the narrow obstacle combined with the verbal fluency task and the deep obstacle with no cognitive task. Finally, gait fluidity showed group differences across unobstructed dual-task situations.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Gait fluidity may be a more sensitive variable than gait speed for revealing executive dysfunction following mTBI in EA. Assessing DTW in level walking also seems to show a potential to reveal executive dysfunctions in this age group. These results provide direction for future research on clinical assessment using DTW post-mTBI in adolescents.
authors.affiliation: a Centre for Interdisciplinary Research in Rehabilitation and Social Integration (CIRRIS) , Centre intégré universitaire de santé et de services sociaux de la Capitale-Nationale (CIUSSS-CN) , Quebec City , Canada.|b Department of Rehabilitation, Faculty of Medicine.
authors.forename: Isabelle
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Cossette
authors.affiliation: a Centre for Interdisciplinary Research in Rehabilitation and Social Integration (CIRRIS) , Centre intégré universitaire de santé et de services sociaux de la Capitale-Nationale (CIUSSS-CN) , Quebec City , Canada.|c School of Psychology, Faculty of Social Sciences , Université Laval , Quebec City , Canada.
authors.forename: Marie-Ève
authors.initials: MÈ
authors.lastname: Gagné
authors.affiliation: a Centre for Interdisciplinary Research in Rehabilitation and Social Integration (CIRRIS) , Centre intégré universitaire de santé et de services sociaux de la Capitale-Nationale (CIUSSS-CN) , Quebec City , Canada.|c School of Psychology, Faculty of Social Sciences , Université Laval , Quebec City , Canada.
authors.forename: Marie-Christine
authors.initials: MC
authors.lastname: Ouellet
authors.affiliation: d Department of Human Kinetics , Université du Québec à Trois-Rivières , Trois-Rivières , Canada.|e Research Center in Neuropsychology and Cognition (CERNEC) , Université de Montréal , Montréal , Canada.
authors.forename: Philippe
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Fait
authors.affiliation: f School of Physical and Occupational Therapy, Faculty of Medecine , McGill University , Montreal , Canada.
authors.forename: Isabelle
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Gagnon
authors.affiliation: a Centre for Interdisciplinary Research in Rehabilitation and Social Integration (CIRRIS) , Centre intégré universitaire de santé et de services sociaux de la Capitale-Nationale (CIUSSS-CN) , Quebec City , Canada.|c School of Psychology, Faculty of Social Sciences , Université Laval , Quebec City , Canada.
authors.forename: Katia
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Sirois
authors.affiliation: g Institut de Psychologie, l'Université Paris Descartes , Paris , France.
authors.forename: Sophie
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Blanchet
authors.affiliation: h Centre hospitalier affilié universitaire de Québec, Enfant-Jésus Hospital , Trauma Research Unit , Quebec City , Canada.
authors.forename: Natalie
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Le Sage
authors.affiliation: a Centre for Interdisciplinary Research in Rehabilitation and Social Integration (CIRRIS) , Centre intégré universitaire de santé et de services sociaux de la Capitale-Nationale (CIUSSS-CN) , Quebec City , Canada.|b Department of Rehabilitation, Faculty of Medicine.
authors.forename: Bradford J
authors.initials: BJ
authors.lastname: McFadyen
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D001924:Brain Concussion / Q000150:complications*; D002648:Child; D003072:Cognition Disorders / Q000209:etiology*; D056344:Executive Function / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D005684:Gait / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D016014:Linear Models; D008297:Male; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D011597:Psychomotor Performance / Q000502:physiology; D016138:Walking / Q000502:physiology*
keywords: Executive functioning; adolescent; concussion; gait; locomotion