Cortical activity during supported and unsupported choice-stepping reaction time tasks in young and older people: a functional near-infrared spectroscopy study

IF 1.9 3区心理学 Q4 NEUROSCIENCES

Human Movement Science Pub Date : 2026-04-01 Epub Date: 2026-01-24 DOI:10.1016/j.humov.2026.103464

Jasmine C. Menant , Paulo H.S. Pelicioni , Daina L. Sturnieks , Stephen R. Lord

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引用次数: 0

Abstract

There is strong evidence from dual-task studies that balance requires cortical input. Yet, whether this cortical activity requirement relates disproportionally to balance control or simply to the undertaking of any motor task is unclear. Potential effects of aging on this relationship are also unknown. We investigated the effects of supporting balance control during cognitively demanding stepping tasks, on cortical activity in the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC), supplementary motor area (SMA) and premotor cortex (PMC), in healthy young and older people. Thirty-two young and 48 older people performed the choice stepping reaction time (CSRT), inhibitory CSRT (iCSRT) and stroop stepping (SST) tasks on a computerised step mat, in two randomly presented support conditions: supported standing using armrests and unsupported free standing. We measured mean stepping response times, step errors and cortical activity using functional near-infrared spectroscopy. Both young and older participants had slower response times across the three stepping tasks in the unsupported condition compared with the supported condition (p < 0.05), and this was accompanied by increased cortical activation in the PFC, SMA and PMC in the CSRT task in the young cohort only (p < 0.05): findings supporting the involvement of these cortical regions in balance control. The similar cortical activity levels between the supported and unsupported conditions for both groups in the iCSRT and SST tasks may indicate the cognitive component of these tasks overshaded the motor component in these more cognitively demanding tasks and/or that these tasks promoted automaticity of postural control by distracting participants from focusing on maintaining balance.

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在支持和不支持的选择步反应时间任务中，年轻人和老年人的皮质活动：一项功能性近红外光谱研究

来自双任务研究的有力证据表明，平衡需要皮层输入。然而，这种皮层活动要求是否与平衡控制不成比例地相关，或者仅仅与任何运动任务的承担有关，目前尚不清楚。衰老对这种关系的潜在影响也是未知的。我们研究了在认知要求较高的步进任务中支持平衡控制对健康年轻人和老年人背外侧前额叶皮层（DLPFC）、辅助运动区（SMA）和运动前皮层（PMC）皮层活动的影响。32名年轻人和48名老年人在计算机化的台阶垫上进行选择踏步反应时间（CSRT）、抑制性踏步反应时间（iCSRT）和stroop踏步（SST）任务，在两种随机呈现的支持条件下：有扶手的站立和无支撑的自由站立。我们用功能近红外光谱测量了平均步进响应时间、步进误差和皮层活动。与支持条件相比，年轻和年长的参与者在无支持条件下的三个步进任务中的反应时间都较慢（p < 0.05），并且这伴随着仅在年轻队列中CSRT任务中PFC， SMA和PMC的皮质激活增加（p < 0.05）：研究结果支持这些皮质区域参与平衡控制。在iCSRT和SST任务中，两组在支持和不支持条件下的皮层活动水平相似，这可能表明这些任务的认知成分在这些认知要求更高的任务中掩盖了运动成分，或者这些任务通过分散参与者对保持平衡的注意力来促进姿势控制的自动性。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

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来源期刊

Human Movement Science 医学-神经科学

CiteScore

3.80

自引率

4.80%

发文量

审稿时长

42 days

期刊介绍： Human Movement Science provides a medium for publishing disciplinary and multidisciplinary studies on human movement. It brings together psychological, biomechanical and neurophysiological research on the control, organization and learning of human movement, including the perceptual support of movement. The overarching goal of the journal is to publish articles that help advance theoretical understanding of the control and organization of human movement, as well as changes therein as a function of development, learning and rehabilitation. The nature of the research reported may vary from fundamental theoretical or empirical studies to more applied studies in the fields of, for example, sport, dance and rehabilitation with the proviso that all studies have a distinct theoretical bearing. Also, reviews and meta-studies advancing the understanding of human movement are welcome. These aims and scope imply that purely descriptive studies are not acceptable, while methodological articles are only acceptable if the methodology in question opens up new vistas in understanding the control and organization of human movement. The same holds for articles on exercise physiology, which in general are not supported, unless they speak to the control and organization of human movement. In general, it is required that the theoretical message of articles published in Human Movement Science is, to a certain extent, innovative and not dismissible as just "more of the same."