Does Dancing Improve Fall Risk Due To Its Demands On Cognitive Effort?
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1
Otto von Guericke University, Institute of Sport Science, Germany
Background: Extreme levels of gait variability are associated with fall risk (Hamacher et al., 2011) and reduced executive function. As walking demands cognitive effort, gait variability is affected when subjects perform a dual task. It is not verified if dual-task walking improves after a cognitive-motor intervention. Dancing implies high demands on executive functions and motor control. It might reduce variability of stride time (ST) and minimum toe clearance (MTC) while dual-task walking and hence fall risk. The RTC asks how cognitive demands, which are incorporated in an exercise intervention (6-months dancing program), affect cognitive-motor dual task performance.
Methods: 35 elderly subjects were randomly assigned to either a health-related exercise group (age=68.9±3.0 years) or a dancing group (age=67.9±3.9 years). In pre-test and post-test, we assessed stride variability of MTC and ST and the time needed to recite subtraction serials of three (s3) while dual-task walking. Data was analyzed using two-way repeated measures ANOVAs (time by group).
Results: While no interaction effect was found regarding ST variability, interactions were observed in MTC variability (p=0.042) and s3 (p=0.018) in favor of the dancing group.
Conclusions: Regulating MTC represents an end-point control task. Our data indicates that a dancing program (which combines cognitive and motor efforts) reduces end-point gait variability, which in turn indicates lower fall risk. Thus, music-based multitask exercises, where elderly people are permanently forced to learn new step sequences, might be an efficient fall prevention program (due to their motor-cognitive dual-task character) that could easily be offered in senior centers.
References:
Hamacher, D., Singh, N.B., Van Dieën, J.H., Heller, M.O., and Taylor, W.R. (2011). Kinematic measures for assessing gait stability in elderly individuals: A systematic review. Journal of the Royal Society Interface 8, 1682-1698.
Keywords:
Dancing,
Dual task,
Gait Variability,
fall risk,
motor-cognitive training
Conference:
XII International Conference on Cognitive Neuroscience (ICON-XII), Brisbane, Queensland, Australia, 27 Jul - 31 Jul, 2014.
Presentation Type:
Poster
Topic:
Motor Behaviour
Citation:
Hamacher
D,
Hamacher
D,
Rehfeld
K,
Hökelmann
A and
Schega
L
(2015). Does Dancing Improve Fall Risk Due To Its Demands On Cognitive Effort?.
Conference Abstract:
XII International Conference on Cognitive Neuroscience (ICON-XII).
doi: 10.3389/conf.fnhum.2015.217.00164
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Received:
19 Feb 2015;
Published Online:
24 Apr 2015.
*
Correspondence:
Mr. Dennis Hamacher, Otto von Guericke University, Institute of Sport Science, Magdeburg, Germany, dennis.hamacher@dhgs-hochschule.de