Upright standing and gait: are there changes in attentional requirements related to normal aging? Export

@article{citeulike:5340456, abstract = {This study evaluates attentional requirements for maintaining an upright posture and for walking among young and elderly persons to determine if, with normal aging, there is a deficit and/or a modification in the allocation of the attentional resources necessary for balance control. Eight young adults and 8 elderly persons were asked to respond to an auditory reaction time (RT) task (secondary task) while in a seated position, while in a broad-support or narrow-support upright standing position, and while walking (primary tasks). Reducing the base of support yielded slower RTs for the elderly than for the young persons. When walking, the elderly persons adopted a slower speed than young persons. They also had a shorter stride length. These adaptations have been reported to produce a more secure gait. Even so, they responded to the probe RT task with greater delays than young adults. Together, the results suggest that normal aging requires that a greater proportion of attentional resources be allocated to the balance demands of postural tasks.}, author = {Lajoie, Y. and Teasdale, N. and Bard, C. and Fleury, M.}, citeulike-article-id = {5340456}, citeulike-linkout-0 = {http://view.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/8735152}, citeulike-linkout-1 = {http://www.hubmed.org/display.cgi?uids=8735152}, issn = {0361-073X}, journal = {Experimental aging research}, keywords = {ageing, gait}, number = {2}, pages = {185--198}, posted-at = {2009-08-03 14:34:11}, priority = {2}, title = {Upright standing and gait: are there changes in attentional requirements related to normal aging?}, url = {http://view.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/8735152}, volume = {22}, year = {1996} }

TY - JOUR ID - citeulike:5340456 L3 - citeulike-article-id:5340456 N2 - This study evaluates attentional requirements for maintaining an upright posture and for walking among young and elderly persons to determine if, with normal aging, there is a deficit and/or a modification in the allocation of the attentional resources necessary for balance control. Eight young adults and 8 elderly persons were asked to respond to an auditory reaction time (RT) task (secondary task) while in a seated position, while in a broad-support or narrow-support upright standing position, and while walking (primary tasks). Reducing the base of support yielded slower RTs for the elderly than for the young persons. When walking, the elderly persons adopted a slower speed than young persons. They also had a shorter stride length. These adaptations have been reported to produce a more secure gait. Even so, they responded to the probe RT task with greater delays than young adults. Together, the results suggest that normal aging requires that a greater proportion of attentional resources be allocated to the balance demands of postural tasks. IS - 2 JF - Experimental aging research SN - 0361-073X EP - 198 TI - Upright standing and gait: are there changes in attentional requirements related to normal aging? VL - 22 SP - 185 KW - ageing KW - gait AU - Lajoie, Y AU - Teasdale, N AU - Bard, C AU - Fleury, M PY - 1996///n UR - http://view.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/8735152 ER -