Article

People often multi-task in their daily life. However, the mechanisms for the
interaction between simultaneous postural and non-postural tasks have been
controversial over the years.
The present study investigated the effects of light
digital touch on both postural sway and visual search accuracy for the purpose of
assessing two hypotheses (functional integration and resource competition), which
may explain the interaction between postural sway and the performance of a
non-postural task. Participants (n=42, 20 male and 22 female) were asked to
inspect a blank sheet of paper or visually search for target letters in a text
block while a fingertip was in light contact with a stable surface (light touch,
LT), or with both arms hanging at the sides of the body (no touch, NT). The
results showed significant main effects of LT on reducing the magnitude of
postural sway as well as enhancing visual search accuracy compared with the NT
condition. The findings support the hypothesis of function integration,
demonstrating that the modulation of postural sway can be modulated to improve
the performance of a visual search task.
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Langue : ANGLAIS