The Effect of Dual Task Interference on Gait in Aging: Role of Working Memory Components

The purpose of the present study was to investigate the effect of concurrent cognitive tasks activating phonological loop and visuospatial scratchpad of working memory on gait in older adults.12 older adults with the age range of 65-70 years performed walking trials in 3 counterbalanced testing conditions including single walking, walking while performing visuospatial task and walking while performing phonological task. Walking trials were recorded by Motion Analysis system during the test session. Repeated measure ANOVA was used to analyze the gait parameters. The findings indicated a significant difference between 3 testing conditions in step time, cadence, acceleration amplitude variability and step width. The results also showed that in dual task condition, visuospatial scratchpad activation interferes with elderly gait more so than the phonological loop activation. Therefore, it seems that visuospatial scratchpad component of working memory might be specifically used for planning and carrying out gait as a motor task.