Surkar Swati M, Lin Chia-Cheng, Trotter Brittany, Phinizy Tyler, Sylcott Brian
Department of Physical Therapy, East Carolina University, Greenville, North Carolina, United States of America.
Department of Kinesiology, East Carolina University, Greenville, North Carolina, United States of America.
PLoS One. 2025 May 8;20(5):e0322036. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0322036. eCollection 2025.
Dual-task (DT) training, which involves the simultaneous execution of cognitive and motor tasks, has been shown to influence task performance and cortical activation, yet evidence on the effects of DT training and cortical activation for complex postural control tasks remains limited. This study investigated the immediate and retention effects of a one-week DT training program on DT learning, performance in DT and single-task conditions, and activation in bilateral prefrontal (PFC) and vestibular cortices in healthy young adults. Eighteen individuals (age = 22.39 ± 1.73 years) participated in the study. The DT paradigm involved a dynamic stability platform (motor task) paired with either a simple or complex auditory reaction time (RT) task (cognitive). Participants completed 20-25 minutes of DT training (18 trials/day) across five consecutive days. DT performance was measured by the duration participants maintained the stability platform within 3 degrees of the horizontal while responding to auditory stimuli. Single-task motor and cognitive performances were also assessed. Cortical activation in the PFC and vestibular cortices was measured using functional near infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS), tracking changes in oxygenated hemoglobin (HbO) concentrations. Pre-training, post-training, and one-week follow-up testing was conducted. The results demonstrate that DT training significantly improves and retains DT performance, likely due to a reduction in cognitive-motor interference. Additionally, DT training led to decreased activation in the bilateral PFC and vestibular cortices, specifically for complex DT condition, suggesting enhanced attentional resource allocation and optimized vestibular input processing, indicative of neural efficiency. Notably, these training effects also transferred to single-task cognitive and motor performances, with corresponding reductions in PFC and vestibular cortex activation, despite the lack of direct training on these tasks. This study advances our understanding of the neural mechanisms underlying DT training and underscores the critical role of practice in optimizing cognitive-motor efficiency.
双任务（DT）训练涉及认知任务和运动任务的同时执行，已被证明会影响任务表现和皮层激活，但关于DT训练对复杂姿势控制任务的影响以及皮层激活的证据仍然有限。本研究调查了为期一周的DT训练计划对健康年轻成年人的DT学习、DT和单任务条件下的表现以及双侧前额叶（PFC）和前庭皮层激活的即时和保留效应。18名个体（年龄=22.39±1.73岁）参与了该研究。DT范式包括一个动态稳定平台（运动任务）与一个简单或复杂的听觉反应时（RT）任务（认知任务）配对。参与者连续五天每天完成20 - 25分钟的DT训练（每天18次试验）。DT表现通过参与者在对听觉刺激做出反应时将稳定平台保持在水平±3度范围内的持续时间来衡量。还评估了单任务运动和认知表现。使用功能近红外光谱（fNIRS）测量PFC和前庭皮层的皮层激活，追踪氧合血红蛋白（HbO）浓度的变化。进行了训练前、训练后和一周后的随访测试。结果表明，DT训练显著提高并保留了DT表现，这可能是由于认知 - 运动干扰的减少。此外，DT训练导致双侧PFC和前庭皮层的激活减少，特别是在复杂DT条件下，这表明注意力资源分配增强和前庭输入处理优化，这是神经效率的体现。值得注意的是，这些训练效果也转移到了单任务认知和运动表现上，尽管没有对这些任务进行直接训练，但PFC和前庭皮层的激活相应减少。这项研究推进了我们对DT训练潜在神经机制的理解，并强调了练习在优化认知 - 运动效率方面的关键作用。
