Fluid Cognition Relates to Locomotor Switching in Neurotypical Adults, Not Individuals After Stroke.

The cognitive measure was a broad composite score, so it cannot show which specific cognitive domain might relate to switching. The walking task taught a new pattern largely through explicit visual feedback, so how the pattern was learned may affect switching. Neurotypical adults walked at a speed matched to the stroke group, which may have made switching easier or harder for them. People with cerebellar stroke or neglect were excluded, so the results do not apply to all individuals after stroke. The average fluid cognition score in the stroke group was more than one standard deviation below average compared with normative data, so the study may not include enough people with higher cognition to see a relationship. Only 29 individuals after stroke and 18 neurotypical adults were studied. Lower extremity Fugl-Meyer was not measured in neurotypical adults; a perfect score of 34 was imputed for them in a supplemental analysis. The study does not show why switching was impaired after stroke.

The supplied text does not include a conflicts of interest declaration. The article is listed as supported by NIH extramural research and non-U.S. government research support.

Do not conclude that cognitive training will improve switching after stroke. The study did not test an intervention, and fluid cognition was not related to switching in individuals after stroke.