Visuospatial cognition predicts performance on an obstructed vision obstacle walking task in older adults
Walking performance and cognitive function demonstrate strong associations in older adults, with both declining with advancing age. Walking requires the use of cognitive resources, particularly in complex environments like stepping over obstacles. A commonly implemented approach for measuring the co...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Elsevier
2024-05-01
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| Series: | Experimental Gerontology |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0531556524000457 |
| _version_ | 1797220578317303808 |
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| author | Steven P. Winesett Sudeshna A. Chatterjee Brianne Borgia Brigette A. Cox Kelly A. Hawkins Jon W. Miles Clayton W. Swanson Julia T. Choi Rachael D. Seidler Emily J. Fox David J. Clark |
| author_facet | Steven P. Winesett Sudeshna A. Chatterjee Brianne Borgia Brigette A. Cox Kelly A. Hawkins Jon W. Miles Clayton W. Swanson Julia T. Choi Rachael D. Seidler Emily J. Fox David J. Clark |
| author_sort | Steven P. Winesett |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Walking performance and cognitive function demonstrate strong associations in older adults, with both declining with advancing age. Walking requires the use of cognitive resources, particularly in complex environments like stepping over obstacles. A commonly implemented approach for measuring the cognitive control of walking is a dual-task walking assessment, in which walking is combined with a second task. However, dual-task assessments have shortcomings, including issues with scaling the task difficulty and controlling for task prioritization. Here we present a new assessment designed to be less susceptible to these shortcomings while still challenging cognitive control of walking: the Obstructed Vision Obstacle (OBVIO) task. During the task, participants hold a lightweight tray at waist level obstructing their view of upcoming foam blocks, which are intermittently spaced along a 10 m walkway. This forces the participants to use cognitive resources (e.g., attention and working memory) to remember the exact placement of upcoming obstacles to facilitate successful crossing. The results demonstrate that adding the obstructed vision board significantly slowed walking speed by an average of 0.26 m/s and increased the number of obstacle strikes by 8-fold in healthy older adults (n = 74). Additionally, OBVIO walking performance (a score based on both speed and number of obstacle strikes) significantly correlated with computer-based assessments of visuospatial working memory, attention, and verbal working memory. These results provide initial support that the OBVIO task is a feasible walking test that demands cognitive resources. This study lays the groundwork for using the OBVIO task in future assessment and intervention studies. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-24T12:51:46Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-0e956a7ddb4b483b9acf1d13065e1dd8 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1873-6815 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-24T12:51:46Z |
| publishDate | 2024-05-01 |
| publisher | Elsevier |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Experimental Gerontology |
| spelling | doaj.art-0e956a7ddb4b483b9acf1d13065e1dd82024-04-06T04:39:27ZengElsevierExperimental Gerontology1873-68152024-05-01189112403Visuospatial cognition predicts performance on an obstructed vision obstacle walking task in older adultsSteven P. Winesett0Sudeshna A. Chatterjee1Brianne Borgia2Brigette A. Cox3Kelly A. Hawkins4Jon W. Miles5Clayton W. Swanson6Julia T. Choi7Rachael D. Seidler8Emily J. Fox9David J. Clark10Brain Rehabilitation Research Center, Malcom Randall VA Medical Center, Gainesville, FL, USA; Applied Physiology and Kinesiology, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, USA; Corresponding author at: Brain Rehabilitation Research Center(151A), Malcom Randall VA Medica Center, 1601 SW Archer Rd., Gainesville, FL 32608-1135, USA.Department of Physical Therapy and Rehabilitation Sciences, Drexel University, Philadelphia, USABrain Rehabilitation Research Center, Malcom Randall VA Medical Center, Gainesville, FL, USA; Department of Neurology, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, USA; Department of Health Outcomes & Biomedical Informatics, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, USABrain Rehabilitation Research Center, Malcom Randall VA Medical Center, Gainesville, FL, USADepartment of Physical Therapy, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, USABrain Rehabilitation Research Center, Malcom Randall VA Medical Center, Gainesville, FL, USABrain Rehabilitation Research Center, Malcom Randall VA Medical Center, Gainesville, FL, USA; Department of Neurology, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, USAApplied Physiology and Kinesiology, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, USAApplied Physiology and Kinesiology, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, USADepartment of Physical Therapy, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, USA; Brooks Rehabilitation, Jacksonville, FL, USABrain Rehabilitation Research Center, Malcom Randall VA Medical Center, Gainesville, FL, USA; Department of Neurology, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, USAWalking performance and cognitive function demonstrate strong associations in older adults, with both declining with advancing age. Walking requires the use of cognitive resources, particularly in complex environments like stepping over obstacles. A commonly implemented approach for measuring the cognitive control of walking is a dual-task walking assessment, in which walking is combined with a second task. However, dual-task assessments have shortcomings, including issues with scaling the task difficulty and controlling for task prioritization. Here we present a new assessment designed to be less susceptible to these shortcomings while still challenging cognitive control of walking: the Obstructed Vision Obstacle (OBVIO) task. During the task, participants hold a lightweight tray at waist level obstructing their view of upcoming foam blocks, which are intermittently spaced along a 10 m walkway. This forces the participants to use cognitive resources (e.g., attention and working memory) to remember the exact placement of upcoming obstacles to facilitate successful crossing. The results demonstrate that adding the obstructed vision board significantly slowed walking speed by an average of 0.26 m/s and increased the number of obstacle strikes by 8-fold in healthy older adults (n = 74). Additionally, OBVIO walking performance (a score based on both speed and number of obstacle strikes) significantly correlated with computer-based assessments of visuospatial working memory, attention, and verbal working memory. These results provide initial support that the OBVIO task is a feasible walking test that demands cognitive resources. This study lays the groundwork for using the OBVIO task in future assessment and intervention studies.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0531556524000457AgingObstacle walkingCognitionDual-task walking |
| spellingShingle | Steven P. Winesett Sudeshna A. Chatterjee Brianne Borgia Brigette A. Cox Kelly A. Hawkins Jon W. Miles Clayton W. Swanson Julia T. Choi Rachael D. Seidler Emily J. Fox David J. Clark Visuospatial cognition predicts performance on an obstructed vision obstacle walking task in older adults Experimental Gerontology Aging Obstacle walking Cognition Dual-task walking |
| title | Visuospatial cognition predicts performance on an obstructed vision obstacle walking task in older adults |
| title_full | Visuospatial cognition predicts performance on an obstructed vision obstacle walking task in older adults |
| title_fullStr | Visuospatial cognition predicts performance on an obstructed vision obstacle walking task in older adults |
| title_full_unstemmed | Visuospatial cognition predicts performance on an obstructed vision obstacle walking task in older adults |
| title_short | Visuospatial cognition predicts performance on an obstructed vision obstacle walking task in older adults |
| title_sort | visuospatial cognition predicts performance on an obstructed vision obstacle walking task in older adults |
| topic | Aging Obstacle walking Cognition Dual-task walking |
| url | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0531556524000457 |
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