Acute Effects of High Intensity Dual Task Training on Cognitive Workload in Young Adults

Research Objectives: Dual tasking (DT) is necessary for daily living and requires intact cognitive and motor system functions. The cognitive workload is the combined mental and physical effort in response to the cognitive demand and time constraints of a task. The aim was to evaluate the short-term effects of high-intensity DT training on cognitive workload.

Design: Participants completed one session of high-intensity DT training. The training involved 6 bouts of 6 minutes of DT treadmill walking.

Setting: Laboratory for Advanced Rehabilitation Research in Simulation (LARRS), G042 of Olathe Pavilion at the University of Kansas Medical Center.

Participants: 40 healthy young adults with age = mean (Sd), 23.7 (1.4), 24 females (60%), The motor component of the DT program consisted of walking at 80% of self-selected overground speed and obstacle crossing on a virtual reality treadmill.

Interventions: The training involved 6 bouts of 6 minutes of DT treadmill walking. The motor component of the DT program consisted of walking at 80% of self-selected overground speed and obstacle crossing on a virtual reality treadmill.

Main Outcome Measures: The cognitive component consisted of working memory (2-back test). The cognitive workload was administered through self-report (NASA-TLX) and pupillometry (Index of Cognitive Activity; greater cognitive workload indexed by pupil dilation).

Results: Repeated Measures ANOVA showed significant improvements in walking speed, percentages of obstacles crossed, and the number of hits on the 2-back (p < 0.05). NASA-TLX scores decreased across training sessions, with the most significant changes observed in the first three bouts (p < 0.05). No changes in pupillary responses were observed.

Conclusions: Highly intense DT training on virtual reality treadmill training leads to decreased self-reported cognitive workload and improvements in motor and cognitive performance. Further studies should include more sessions of DT training to investigate whether short-term improvements in DT performance stem from decreased cognitive workload to attend to the tasks.

Author(s) Disclosures: Maryam Sadeghi, Joan Augustyn, Alexis Bieker, Erin Holtmeier, Kari Skinner, Jacob Sosnoff, Jeffrey Hausdorff, Hannes Devos