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Journal article
fNIRS Study of Walking and Walking While Talking in Young and Old Individuals
The journals of gerontology. Series A, Biological sciences and medical sciences, v 66(8), pp 879-887
01 Aug 2011
PMID: 21593013
Featured in Collection : UN Sustainable Development Goals @ Drexel
Abstract
Background. Evidence suggests that gait is influenced by higher order cognitive and cortical control mechanisms. However, less is known about the functional correlates of cortical control of gait.
Methods. Using functional near-infrared spectroscopy, the current study was designed to evaluate whether increased activations in the prefrontal cortex (PFC) were detected in walking while talking (WWT) compared with normal pace walking (NW) in 11 young and 11 old participants. Specifically, the following two hypotheses were evaluated: (a) Activation in the PFC would be increased in WWT compared with NW. (b) The increase in activation in the PFC during WWT as compared with NW would be greater in young than in old participants.
Results. Separate linear mixed effects models with age as the two-level between-subject factor, walking condition (NW vs WWT) as the two-level repeated within-subject factor, and HbO2 levels in each of the 16 functional near-infrared spectroscopy channels as the dependent measure revealed significant task effects in 14 channels, indicating a robust bilateral increased activation in the PFC in WWT compared with NW. Furthermore, the group-by-task interaction was significant in 11 channels with young participants showing greater WWT-related increase in HbO2 levels compared with the old participants.
Conclusions. This study provided the first evidence that oxygenation levels are increased in the PFC during WWT compared with NW in young and old individuals. This effect was modified by age suggesting that older adults may underutilize the PFC in attention-demanding locomotion tasks.
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Details
- Title
- fNIRS Study of Walking and Walking While Talking in Young and Old Individuals
- Creators
- Roee Holtzer - Albert Einstein College of MedicineJeannette R. Mahoney - Albert Einstein College of MedicineMeltem Izzetoglu - Drexel UniversityKurtulus Izzetoglu - Drexel UniversityBanu Onaral - Drexel UniversityJoe Verghese - Albert Einstein College of Medicine
- Publication Details
- The journals of gerontology. Series A, Biological sciences and medical sciences, v 66(8), pp 879-887
- Publisher
- Oxford Univ Press
- Number of pages
- 9
- Grant note
- K23 AG030857 / National Institute on Aging; United States Department of Health & Human Services; National Institutes of Health (NIH) - USA; NIH National Institute on Aging (NIA) Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, NY K23AG030857 / NATIONAL INSTITUTE ON AGING; United States Department of Health & Human Services; National Institutes of Health (NIH) - USA; NIH National Institute on Aging (NIA)
- Resource Type
- Journal article
- Language
- English
- Academic Unit
- School of Biomedical Engineering, Science, and Health Systems
- Web of Science ID
- WOS:000293958300006
- Scopus ID
- 2-s2.0-80051526779
- Other Identifier
- 991019168363804721
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- Collaboration types
- Domestic collaboration
- Web of Science research areas
- Geriatrics & Gerontology
- Gerontology