Prefrontal Cortex Brain Activation During Texting and Walking: A Functional Near-Infrared Spectroscopy Feasibility Study

Abstract

Texting while walking is an increasingly common, potentially dangerous task but its functional brain correlates have yet to be reported. Therefore, we evaluated prefrontal cortex (PFC) activation patterns during single- and dual-task texting and walking in healthy adults. Thirteen participants (29–49 years) walked under single- and dual-task conditions involving mobile phone texting or a serial-7s subtraction task, while measuring PFC activation (functional near-infrared spectroscopy) and behavioral task performance (inertial sensors, mobile application). Head lowering during texting increased PFC activation. Texting further increased PFC activation, and decreased gait performance similarly to serial-7 subtraction. Our results support the key role of executive control in texting while walking.