How Does Explicit Prioritization Alter Walking During Dual-Task Performance? Effects of Age and Sex on Gait Speed and Variability

Abstract

Even among young adults, the effects of secondary, cognitive tasks on gait speed are strongly influenced by prioritization. This finding was less significant in the older adults, suggesting that there is an age-associated decline in the ability to flexibly allocate attention to gait. Somewhat surprisingly, when prioritization was not explicitly instructed, gait speed in both young and older adults most closely resembled that of the condition when they were instructed to focus attention on the cognitive task.