Functional Gait Can Be Affected by Noise: Effects of Age and Cognitive Function: A Pilot Study
Background: The ageing process may degrade an individual's balance control, hearing capacity, and cognitive function. Older adults perform worse on simultaneously executed balance and secondary tasks (i.e., dual-task performance) than younger adults and may be more vulnerable to auditory distra...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Frontiers Media S.A.
2021-02-01
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| Series: | Frontiers in Neurology |
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| Online Access: | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fneur.2021.634395/full |
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| author | Margot Buyle Viktoria Azoidou Marousa Pavlou Vincent Van Rompaey Vincent Van Rompaey Doris-Eva Bamiou Doris-Eva Bamiou |
| author_facet | Margot Buyle Viktoria Azoidou Marousa Pavlou Vincent Van Rompaey Vincent Van Rompaey Doris-Eva Bamiou Doris-Eva Bamiou |
| author_sort | Margot Buyle |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Background: The ageing process may degrade an individual's balance control, hearing capacity, and cognitive function. Older adults perform worse on simultaneously executed balance and secondary tasks (i.e., dual-task performance) than younger adults and may be more vulnerable to auditory distraction.Aim: The purpose of this study was to determine the effect of passive listening on functional gait in healthy older vs. younger adults, and to investigate the effect of age, functional gait, hearing ability and cognitive functioning on dual-task performance.Methods: Twenty young and 20 older healthy adults were recruited. Functional gait (Functional Gait Assessment in silent and noisy condition), hearing function (audiogram; Speech in Babble test), and cognitive ability (Cambridge Neuropsychological Test Automated Battery) were measured.Results: Overall, a significant difference between functional gait performance in silent vs. noisy conditions was found (p = 0.022), with no significant difference in dual-task cost between the two groups (p = 0.11). Correlations were found between increasing age, worse functional gait performance, poorer hearing capacity and lower performance on cognitive function tasks. Interestingly, worse performance on attention tasks appeared to be associated with a worse functional gait performance in the noisy condition.Conclusion: Passive listening to multi-talker babble noise can affect functional gait in both young and older adults. This effect could result from the cognitive load of the babble noise, due to the engagement of attention networks by the unattended speech. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-14T23:04:25Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-773b4824cc16432eaa4441aace201092 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1664-2295 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-14T23:04:25Z |
| publishDate | 2021-02-01 |
| publisher | Frontiers Media S.A. |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Frontiers in Neurology |
| spelling | doaj.art-773b4824cc16432eaa4441aace2010922022-12-21T22:44:23ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Neurology1664-22952021-02-011210.3389/fneur.2021.634395634395Functional Gait Can Be Affected by Noise: Effects of Age and Cognitive Function: A Pilot StudyMargot Buyle0Viktoria Azoidou1Marousa Pavlou2Vincent Van Rompaey3Vincent Van Rompaey4Doris-Eva Bamiou5Doris-Eva Bamiou6Experimental Laboratory of Translational Neuroscience, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, University of Antwerp, Antwerp, BelgiumFaculty of Life Sciences & Medicine, Centre for Human & Applied Physiological Sciences, King's College London, London, United KingdomFaculty of Life Sciences & Medicine, Centre for Human & Applied Physiological Sciences, King's College London, London, United KingdomExperimental Laboratory of Translational Neuroscience, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, University of Antwerp, Antwerp, BelgiumDepartment of Otorhinolaryngology and Head & Neck Surgery, Antwerp University Hospital, Edegem, BelgiumFaculty of Brain Sciences, University College London (UCL) Ear Institute, University College London, London, United KingdomBiomedical Research Centre, National Institute for Health Research, London, United KingdomBackground: The ageing process may degrade an individual's balance control, hearing capacity, and cognitive function. Older adults perform worse on simultaneously executed balance and secondary tasks (i.e., dual-task performance) than younger adults and may be more vulnerable to auditory distraction.Aim: The purpose of this study was to determine the effect of passive listening on functional gait in healthy older vs. younger adults, and to investigate the effect of age, functional gait, hearing ability and cognitive functioning on dual-task performance.Methods: Twenty young and 20 older healthy adults were recruited. Functional gait (Functional Gait Assessment in silent and noisy condition), hearing function (audiogram; Speech in Babble test), and cognitive ability (Cambridge Neuropsychological Test Automated Battery) were measured.Results: Overall, a significant difference between functional gait performance in silent vs. noisy conditions was found (p = 0.022), with no significant difference in dual-task cost between the two groups (p = 0.11). Correlations were found between increasing age, worse functional gait performance, poorer hearing capacity and lower performance on cognitive function tasks. Interestingly, worse performance on attention tasks appeared to be associated with a worse functional gait performance in the noisy condition.Conclusion: Passive listening to multi-talker babble noise can affect functional gait in both young and older adults. This effect could result from the cognitive load of the babble noise, due to the engagement of attention networks by the unattended speech.https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fneur.2021.634395/fullfunctional gaitcognitionhearing losspassive listeningattention |
| spellingShingle | Margot Buyle Viktoria Azoidou Marousa Pavlou Vincent Van Rompaey Vincent Van Rompaey Doris-Eva Bamiou Doris-Eva Bamiou Functional Gait Can Be Affected by Noise: Effects of Age and Cognitive Function: A Pilot Study Frontiers in Neurology functional gait cognition hearing loss passive listening attention |
| title | Functional Gait Can Be Affected by Noise: Effects of Age and Cognitive Function: A Pilot Study |
| title_full | Functional Gait Can Be Affected by Noise: Effects of Age and Cognitive Function: A Pilot Study |
| title_fullStr | Functional Gait Can Be Affected by Noise: Effects of Age and Cognitive Function: A Pilot Study |
| title_full_unstemmed | Functional Gait Can Be Affected by Noise: Effects of Age and Cognitive Function: A Pilot Study |
| title_short | Functional Gait Can Be Affected by Noise: Effects of Age and Cognitive Function: A Pilot Study |
| title_sort | functional gait can be affected by noise effects of age and cognitive function a pilot study |
| topic | functional gait cognition hearing loss passive listening attention |
| url | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fneur.2021.634395/full |
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