Fraser Sarah A, Li Karen Z-H, Berryman Nicolas, Desjardins-Crépeau Laurence, Lussier Maxime, Vadaga Kiran, Lehr Lora, Minh Vu Thien Tuong, Bosquet Laurent, Bherer Louis
Interdisciplinary School of Health Sciences, University of Ottawa Ottawa, ON, Canada.
Department of Psychology, Concordia University Montréal, QC, Canada.
Front Hum Neurosci. 2017 Jan 18;10:688. doi: 10.3389/fnhum.2016.00688. eCollection 2016.
Everyday activities like walking and talking can put an older adult at risk for a fall if they have difficulty dividing their attention between motor and cognitive tasks. Training studies have demonstrated that both cognitive and physical training regimens can improve motor and cognitive task performance. Few studies have examined the benefits of combined training (cognitive and physical) and whether or not this type of combined training would transfer to walking or balancing dual-tasks. This study examines the dual-task benefits of combined training in a sample of sedentary older adults. Seventy-two older adults (≥60 years) were randomly assigned to one of four training groups: Aerobic + Cognitive training (CT), Aerobic + Computer lessons (CL), Stretch + CT and Stretch + CL. It was expected that the Aerobic + CT group would demonstrate the largest benefits and that the active placebo control (Stretch + CL) would show the least benefits after training. Walking and standing balance were paired with an auditory n-back with two levels of difficulty (0- and 1-back). Dual-task walking and balance were assessed with: walk speed (m/s), cognitive accuracy (% correct) and several mediolateral sway measures for pre- to post-test improvements. All groups demonstrated improvements in walk speed from pre- ( = 1.33 m/s) to post-test ( = 1.42 m/s, < 0.001) and in accuracy from pre- ( = 97.57%) to post-test ( = 98.57%, = 0.005).They also increased their walk speed in the more difficult 1-back ( = 1.38 m/s) in comparison to the 0-back ( = 1.36 m/s, < 0.001) but reduced their accuracy in the 1-back ( = 96.39%) in comparison to the 0-back ( = 99.92%, < 0.001). Three out of the five mediolateral sway variables (Peak, SD, RMS) demonstrated significant reductions in sway from pre to post test ( < 0.05). With the exception of a group difference between Aerobic + CT and Stretch + CT in accuracy, there were no significant group differences after training. Results suggest that there can be dual-task benefits from training but that in this sedentary sample Aerobic + CT training was not more beneficial than other types of combined training.
如果老年人在将注意力分配到运动和认知任务上存在困难，那么像走路和说话这样的日常活动就可能使他们面临跌倒的风险。训练研究表明，认知训练方案和体能训练方案都可以提高运动和认知任务的表现。很少有研究探讨联合训练（认知训练和体能训练）的益处，以及这种联合训练是否能转化到行走或平衡双重任务中。本研究在一组久坐不动的老年人样本中考察联合训练的双重任务益处。72名老年人（≥60岁）被随机分配到四个训练组之一：有氧运动+认知训练（CT）组、有氧运动+计算机课程（CL）组、伸展运动+CT组和伸展运动+CL组。预计有氧运动+CT组在训练后将展现出最大的益处，而主动安慰剂对照组（伸展运动+CL）的益处最小。行走和站立平衡与有两个难度级别的听觉n-back任务相结合（0-back和1-back）。通过行走速度（米/秒）、认知准确性（正确百分比）以及几个用于评估测试前后改善情况的内外侧摆动测量指标，对双重任务行走和平衡进行评估。所有组在测试前（=1.33米/秒）到测试后（=1.42米/秒，<0.001）的行走速度以及测试前（=97.57%）到测试后（=98.57%，=0.005）的准确性方面均有改善。与0-back（=1.36米/秒，<0.001）相比，他们在难度更大的1-back任务中的行走速度也有所提高（=1.38米/秒），但与0-back（=99.92%，<0.001）相比，他们在1-back任务中的准确性有所降低（=96.39%）。五个内外侧摆动变量中的三个（峰值、标准差、均方根）在测试前后的摆动显示出显著降低（<0.05）。除了有氧运动+CT组和伸展运动+CT组在准确性上存在组间差异外，训练后没有显著的组间差异。结果表明，训练可能带来双重任务益处，但在这个久坐不动的样本中，有氧运动+CT训练并不比其他类型的联合训练更有益。
