AUTHOR=Jouira Ghada , Alexe Dan Iulian , Moraru Cristina Elena , Rekik Ghazi , Alexe Cristina Ioana , Marinău Marius Alin , Sahli Sonia TITLE=The influence of cognitive load and vision variability on postural balance in adolescents with intellectual disabilities JOURNAL=Frontiers in Neurology VOLUME=15 YEAR=2024 URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/neurology/articles/10.3389/fneur.2024.1385286 DOI=10.3389/fneur.2024.1385286 ISSN=1664-2295 ABSTRACT=Introduction

This study aimed to investigate the impact of cognitive load, particularly its escalation during the execution of the same test, under varying vision conditions, on postural balance among adolescents with intellectual disability (ID).

Methods

Twenty adolescents underwent balance assessments under different visual conditions (Open Eyes (OE), Closed Eyes (CE), Flash, Goggles, Visual Stimulation (VS)) and task settings (Single Task (ST), Dual Task (DT) without challenges, and DT with challenges). The cognitive test was assessed using Verbal Fluency (VF).

Results and discussion

Significant effects were found for Task (p < 0.001, ηp2 = 0.85), indicating that CoP values significantly increased (p < 0.05) with the introduction of the DT. Dual Task Cost (DTC) demonstrated significant effects for Vision (p = 0.008, ηp2 = 0.62), with values varying significantly (p < 0.05) among different vision conditions, especially in CE and Flash conditions. Visual Dependency Quotient (VDQ) analyses revealed significant effects of condition (p < 0.001, ηp2 = 0.84), with significant changes observed in CE/OE and Flash/OE conditions (p < 0.05). Significant effects were observed for Cognitive performance in the Challenge condition (p < 0.001, ηp2 = 0.86), with decreased performance with cognitive task challenges, particularly in Flash and Goggles conditions (p < 0.05). In conclusion, cognitive tasks, especially challenging ones, and visual variations significantly impact postural balance in adolescents with ID.