The Interplay between Cognitive and Motor Functioning in Healthy Older Adults: Findings from Dual-Task Studies and Suggestions for Intervention

Schaefer, Sabine; Schumacher, Vera · 2010 · OpenAlex-citations

DOI: 10.1159/000322197

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Summary

This review paper examines the interplay between cognitive and motor functioning in healthy older adults, motivated by the demographic shift toward an aging population and the need to maintain late-life independence. The authors analyze two primary lines of research: dual-task studies, which assess simultaneous cognitive and motor performance, and intervention studies, which investigate whether physical fitness training improves cognitive outcomes. The goal is to understand how these domains interact and to propose effective intervention strategies that leverage this relationship to mitigate age-related decline. The review synthesizes findings from dual-task experiments, primarily conducted within the Sensorimotor-Cognitive Couplings project, where young and older adults performed tasks such as walking on complex tracks while encoding word lists or maintaining balance while performing working memory tasks. These studies utilized proportional measures of dual-task costs to quantify performance decrements. Additionally, the paper reviews fitness intervention studies, including a meta-analysis by Colcombe and Kramer, which evaluated the effects of aerobic exercise on cognitive performance in previously sedentary older adults. The authors also critique existing combined training studies (e.g., Fabre et al., Oswald et al.) for methodological inconsistencies, such as unequal training exposure times, which confound the comparison of sequential versus simultaneous training effects. Key findings indicate that older adults exhibit greater performance reductions in dual-task situations than younger adults, reflecting a higher cognitive demand for motor control. Crucially, older adults tend to prioritize motor stability over cognitive performance in threatening situations, such as balancing, to prevent falls—a strategy termed the "posture first" hypothesis. However, this prioritization is adaptive; easy concurrent cognitive tasks can sometimes improve motor stability by focusing attention. Regarding interventions, aerobic fitness training significantly enhances cognitive performance, particularly in executive control and visuospatial tasks. Combined physical and cognitive training shows promise, with some studies indicating superior outcomes compared to single-domain training, though results are mixed due to design variations. The significance of this work lies in its proposal for a rigorous experimental design to isolate the effects of combined training. The authors outline a planned study involving older adults randomized into groups receiving sequential or simultaneous cognitive (verbal working memory) and motor (treadmill walking) training, ensuring equal exposure times to eliminate confounding variables. This approach aims to determine if simultaneous activation of shared brain regions, such as the cerebellum, yields greater transfer effects. The paper concludes that integrating aerobic fitness with cognitive training holds substantial potential for improving the aging trajectory, suggesting that lifestyle interventions can effectively counteract biological declines in both mental and physical resources.

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• dual task performance