Disability Moderates Dual Task Walking Performance and Neural Efficiency in Older Adults With Multiple Sclerosis.
Manuel E Hernandez, Robert W Motl, Frederick W Foley and 5 others
PMID 39177188WHAT IT FOUND
Older adults with more MS disability had higher prefrontal brain activity while walking alone and smaller increases when walking while reciting letters than those with lower disability.
Both groups improved across repeated trials, but no rehabilitation was tested.
Key findings
01Older adults with higher MS disability had greater prefrontal oxygenation than those with lower disability across the walking tasks.
02The increase in prefrontal oxygenation from single-task walking to dual-task walking was greater in the lower disability group than the higher disability group.
03Across repeated trials, both disability groups showed practice-related improvements in walking speed and letter generation, while prefrontal oxygenation declined during the reciting-letter tasks.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for PTs
Read the rest of this summary
You get three full summaries a month, free, and we do not ask for a card. Search, the TL;DRs and your library stay unlimited either way.
What it does not show
The study was observational. It did not assign treatment, so it cannot show that dual-task walking causes improvement. Participants had to walk independently, have relatively intact cognition, and be MRI eligible, so findings may not apply to people with more severe MS or greater cognitive impairment. Practice effects were measured only within one session. Longer-term learning or retention was not tested. Disability was grouped by self-reported PDDS, and age effects were not examined. fNIRS covered only part of the prefrontal cortex and lacked short channels, so other brain regions and scalp blood flow changes were not assessed. Comorbidity adjustment used a simple summed count of conditions, which may not fully account for health differences.
Declared interests
The paper lists U.S. Government P.H.S. research support. One author has a minor share in the fNIRS device; other authors reported no conflicts. The funders had no role.
The easy way to misread this
Do not conclude that dual-task training improves outcomes. This was an observational single-session comparison, not a treatment trial, and the participants were selected for independent walking and relatively intact cognition.