Does dual tasking ability change with age across childhood and adolescence? A systematic scoping review

Saxena, Shikha; Cinar, Eda; Majnemer, Annette; Gagnon, Isabelle

doi:10.1016/j.ijdevneu.2017.01.012

Cited by 37 publications

(28 citation statements)

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“…; Saxena et al . ). Considering that stability in most daily routine tasks is centrally processed together with cognitive and/or attentional tasks (Mezzacappa ; Schaefer ), such as walking while talking on the telephone and walking while holding delicate objects on hands, it seems to be important to study the effects of dual‐tasks on postural control.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 97%

“…; Saxena et al . ), our initial hypothesis was that the addition of a secondary task would increase postural sway during the primary task (STS), especially at the end of STS, which involves active body displacement against gravity and reduction of the base of support. Due to neuromotor impairments in Down syndrome, this increase will be more pronounced in this group.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Dual‐task effects on postural sway during sit‐to‐stand movement in children with Down syndrome

Pena

Pavão

Oliveira

et al. 2019

J intellect Disabil Res

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Background Cognitive and postural tasks require common cognitive mechanisms, resulting in conflicts when both tasks are simultaneously performed. The presence of neuromotor dysfunctions, such as Down syndrome, may impair coordination processes required to perform dual-tasks. The objective of this study was to investigate the dual-task effects on postural sway during sit-to-stand movements in typical children and children with Down syndrome in a cross-sectional study. Methods Twenty six typical children (10.2 ± 2.4 years) and 21 with Down syndrome (10.3 ± 2.3 years) performed sit-to-stand in the following conditions: (1) simple task; (2) dual-task bimanual activity (DT-Bim): sit-to-stand while carrying a tray using both hands; (3) dual-task unimanual dominant activity (DT-Uni-Dom): sit-to-stand while holding a plastic cup simulating water using the dominant hand; (4) dual-task unimanual nondominant activity (DT-Uni-Nondom): sit-to-stand movement while holding a plastic cup simulating water. For data analysis, sit-to-stand was divided into three phases: preparation (phase 1), rising (phase 2), and stabilisation (phase 3). The following variables were calculated for each phase: anterior-posterior and medial-lateral amplitude of centre-of-pressure displacement, anterior-posterior and medial-lateral velocity of centre-of-pressure sway and area of centreof-pressure sway. Results Children with Down syndrome showed greater sway than typical children in all sit-to-stand phases. Typical children showed greater anterior-posterior amplitude in phase 2 of sit-to-stand during DT-Uni Nondom compared with DT-Uni Dom. Children with Down syndrome during simple task condition showed greater and faster values sway in phases 2 and 3 of sit-to-stand movement than in DT-Bim activity, DT-Uni Dom activity and DT-Uni Nondom activity. During the condition of DT-Bim activity, these children showed lower anterior-posterior velocity of sway in phase 2 than during DT-Uni Dom activity. Conclusions Children with Down syndrome showed greater postural sway during sit-to-stand than typical children. The addition of a concurrent motor task to sit-to-stand impacted postural sway in different intensities and in different ways across groups. Dualtasks increased body sway in typical children in the DT-Uni Nondom condition compared with dominant one. In children with Down syndrome, dual-tasks decreased body sway, apparently resulting in a postural strategy of stiffness.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 97%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Dual‐task effects on postural sway during sit‐to‐stand movement in children with Down syndrome

Pena

Pavão

Oliveira

et al. 2019

J intellect Disabil Res

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“…However, temporal and spatial parameters can still improve around 11–15 years, which can be explained by the continuing development of the nervous system and the changes of the anthropometric characteristics (Hausdorff et al, 1985). During childhood, some inconsistent results in dual‐task conditions have also been obtained in postural control (Ruffieux et al, 2015) and walking performances (Schott and Klotzbier, 2018; Saxena et al, 2017; Schaefer et al, 2015). (Olivier et al (2008)) showed an improvement of standing in children aged 4–11 years while watching a movie.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Effects of dual tasking on postural and gait performances in children with cerebral palsy and healthy children

Palluel

Chauvel

Bourg

et al. 2019

Intl J of Devlp Neuroscience

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Simultaneous execution of motor and cognitive tasks is embedded in the daily life of children. 53 children of 7-12 years and 22 adults (study 1), 20 healthy children and 20 children of 7-12 years with cerebral palsy (study 2) performed a Stroop-animal task simultaneously with a standing or a walking task in order to determine the attentional demand of postural control and locomotion. Dual-task cost decreased with advancing age in healthy children during balance. CP and healthy children were similarly affected by dual-task constraints during standing and walking. Children with diplegia were more affected by the DT during the postural task than children with hemiplegia. We found that adults could benefit from dual-tasking for standing. The integrated model of task prioritization might explain our results regarding postural reserve of each population.What this paper adds:• Dual Task Cost decreases with advancing age in healthy children during balance and adults could benefit from dual-tasking for standing • CP and healthy children were similarly affected by dual-task constraints during standing and walking • Children with diplegia were more affected by the DT during the postural task than children with hemiplegia

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“…However, to date only few studies have investigated DT in typically developing children, who exhibiting typically greater vulnerability to Dual Task Effects (DTE). The evidence supporting the effects of age on the ability to coordinate a motor and a cognitive task show inconsistent results in children and adolescents, where the DTE – if computed at all – range from either being lower or comparable or higher in younger children (4–6 years) than in older children (7–12 years), adolescents and adults ( Whitall, 1991 ; Huang et al, 2003 ; Cherng et al, 2007 ; Schaefer et al, 2010 , 2015 ; Anderson et al, 2011 ; Krampe et al, 2011 ; Boonyong et al, 2012 ; Beurskens et al, 2015 , 2016 ; Hagmann-von Arx et al, 2016 ; Hinton and Vallis, 2016 ; Chauvel et al, 2017 ; see also Saxena et al, 2017 for an excellent review). For instance, Boonyong et al (2012) found that children aged 5 and 6 years, and 7–16 years, use a more careful strategy (e.g., reduced gait speed and step length), than that of adults during obstacle crossing while performing an Auditory Stroop-Task.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Its main prediction is that maintaining kinematic gait parameters should be less efficient in DT than ST conditions, which in turn depends on the complexity of the selected task as well as the development of the selected cognitive domain. Recent reviews by Ruffieux et al (2015) and Saxena et al (2017) examining balance and walking performance under dual-task conditions discuss several methodological issues in existing studies at length. Saxena et al (2017) suggest seven criterions to improve overall quality of studies: appropriateness of single tasks (ST), equation of tasks, calculation of DTEs, DTE for each ST, randomization of task order, practice effects, and clear instructions.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Profiles of Cognitive-Motor Interference During Walking in Children: Does the Motor or the Cognitive Task Matter?

Schott

Klotzbier

2018

Front. Psychol.

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The evidence supporting the effects of age on the ability to coordinate a motor and a cognitive task show inconsistent results in children and adolescents, where the Dual-Task Effects (DTE) – if computed at all – range from either being lower or comparable or higher in younger children than in older children, adolescents and adults. A feasible reason for the variability in such findings is the wide range of cognitive tasks (and to some extend of motor tasks) used to study Cognitive-Motor Interference (CMI). Our study aims at determining the differences in CMI when performing cognitive tasks targeting different cognitive functions at varying walking pathways. 69 children and adolescents (boys, n = 45; girls, n = 24; mean age, 11.5 ± 1.50 years) completed higher-level executive function tasks (2-Back, Serial Subtraction, Auditory Stroop, Clock Task, TMT-B) in comparison to non-executive distracter tasks [Motor Response Task (MRT), TMT-A] to assess relative effects on gait during straight vs. repeated Change of Direction (COD) walking. DT during COD walking was assessed using the Trail-Walking-Test (TWT). The motor and cognitive DTE were calculated for each task. There were significant differences between 5th and 8th graders on single gait speed on the straight (p = 0.016) and the COD pathway (p = 0.023), but not on any of the DT conditions. The calculation of DTEs revealed that motor DTEs were lowest for the MRT and highest for the TWT in the numbers/letters condition (p < 0.05 for all comparisons). In contrast, there were cognitive benefits for the higher-order cognitive tasks on the straight pathways, but cognitive costs for both DT conditions on the COD pathway (p < 0.01 for all comparisons). Our findings demonstrate that DT changes in walking when completing a secondary task that involve higher-level cognition are attributable to more than low-level divided attention or motor response processes. These results specifically show the direct competition for higher-level executive function resources important for walking, and are in agreement with previous studies supporting the cognitive-motor link in relation to gait in children. This might be in line with the idea that younger children may not have adequate cognitive resources.

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Does dual tasking ability change with age across childhood and adolescence? A systematic scoping review

Cited by 37 publications

References 50 publications

Dual‐task effects on postural sway during sit‐to‐stand movement in children with Down syndrome

Dual‐task effects on postural sway during sit‐to‐stand movement in children with Down syndrome

Effects of dual tasking on postural and gait performances in children with cerebral palsy and healthy children

Profiles of Cognitive-Motor Interference During Walking in Children: Does the Motor or the Cognitive Task Matter?

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