Contribution of the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex activation, ankle muscle activities, and coactivation during dual-tasks to postural steadiness: a pilot study.
Nobuko Fujita, Sho Kunimune, Shuichi Okada
PMID 32753789WHAT IT FOUND
Standing while counting backwards by sevens did not clearly change sway overall, but left prefrontal blood flow increased.
People who swayed more showed less shin muscle activity and less muscle coactivation.
Key findings
01Sway, tibialis anterior activity, gastrocnemius lateralis activity, and coactivation did not differ significantly between tasks, but left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex oxygenated hemoglobin increased during counting backwards by sevens.
02The group whose sway path length became longer during the dual-tasks had significantly larger sway path length than the group whose sway path length became shorter.
03During the counting dual-task, the group whose sway became shorter had significantly higher tibialis anterior activity and coactivation than the group whose sway became longer.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for PTs
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What it does not show
The study had only 14 participants, and 2 were excluded from the group comparison, leaving 6 shorter and 6 longer participants. The participants were healthy young adults (mean age 20.7 years), so the findings do not show what happens in older adults or people with balance problems. The shorter and longer groups were split after the sway results were known, so the group differences may not apply to new patients. The study measured standing tasks, not a treatment, so it does not show that any therapy improves balance.
Declared interests
The authors declared no conflicts of interest.
The easy way to misread this
Do not conclude that calculating while standing worsens balance or that low ankle muscle activity causes sway. In the whole group, sway did not change significantly between tasks, and the group differences came from 6 shorter and 6 longer healthy young adults split after the results were known.