Age-Related Deficits of Dual-Task Walking: A Review

This review summarizes our present knowledge about elderly people's problems with walking. We highlight the plastic changes in the brain that allow a partial compensation of these age-related deficits and discuss the associated costs and limitations. Experimental evidence for the crucial role o...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Rainer Beurskens, Otmar Bock
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Wiley 2012-01-01
Series:Neural Plasticity
Online Access:http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2012/131608
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Summary:This review summarizes our present knowledge about elderly people's problems with walking. We highlight the plastic changes in the brain that allow a partial compensation of these age-related deficits and discuss the associated costs and limitations. Experimental evidence for the crucial role of executive functions and working memory is presented, leading us to the hypothesis that it is difficult for seniors to coordinate two streams of visual information, one related to navigation through visually defined space, and the other to a visually demanding second task. This hypothesis predicts that interventions aimed at the efficiency of visuovisual coordination in the elderly will ameliorate their deficits in dual-task walking.
ISSN:2090-5904
1687-5443