Visuospatial Working Memory Predicts Strategic Motor Learning With Visual Feedback During Gait After Stroke.

This was an observational association study, not a treatment trial, so it cannot show that visual feedback training causes better gait or that working memory training would improve walking. Participants had to be able to walk independently, with or without an assistive device, and people with severe aphasia, unilateral neglect, cerebellar stroke, other neurologic conditions, or orthopedic walking problems were excluded, so the findings may not apply to more impaired walkers. One participant was removed from the accuracy analysis and three from the improvement analysis as outliers, so the analyzed samples were 76 and 74 rather than 77. Visuospatial working memory was measured with one test, Spatial Addition, which may not capture all visuospatial memory or other cognitive domains such as shifting, inhibition, and visual attention. The split-belt task also engaged implicit sensorimotor adaptation, so early target corrections may reflect both strategic learning and adaptation. Target zones had a fixed 10 cm width, which may not match individual step length variability after stroke, although the authors report no accuracy difference for participants whose baseline step length was near versus centered in the target band.

The authors declared no potential conflicts of interest.

Do not read this as evidence that visual feedback gait training works. It measured performance during a treadmill task and found an association with visuospatial working memory, not a treatment effect.