Article

Examining postural control while simultaneously performing a cognitive, or
suprapostural task, has shown a fairly consistent trend of improving postural
control in young healthy adults and provides insight into postural control
mechanisms used in everyday life. However, the role of attention driven by
explicit verbal instructions while dual-tasking is less understood. Therefore,
the purpose of this investigation is to determine the effects of explicit verbal
instructions on the postural-suprapostural interactions among various domains of
working memory. A total of 22 healthy young adults with a heterogeneous history
of ankle sprains volunteered to participate (age: 22.2+/-5.1 years; n=10 history
of ankle sprains, n=12 no history). Participants were asked to perform
single-limb balance trials while performing three suprapostural tasks: backwards
counting, random number generation, and the manikin test. In addition, each
suprapostural task was completed under three conditions of instruction: no
instructions, focus on the postural control task, focus on the suprapostural
task. The results indicate a significant effect of instructions on postural
control outcomes, with postural performance improving in the presence of
instructions across all three cognitive tasks which each stress different aspects
of working memory. Further, postural-suprapostural interactions appear to be
related to the direction or focus of an individual's attention as instructions to
focus on the suprapostural task resulted in the greatest postural control
improvements.Thus, attention driven by explicit verbal instructions influence
postural-suprapostural interactions as measured by a temporal-spatial postural
control outcome, time-to-boundary, regardless of the suprapostural task
performed.
CI - Copyright (c) 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Langue : ANGLAIS