Neural correlates of motor-cognitive dual-tasking in young and old adults.

ABSTRACT: When two tasks are performed simultaneously, performance often declines in one or both tasks. These so-called dual-task costs are more pronounced in old than in young adults. One proposed neurological mechanism of the dual-task costs is that old compared with young adults tend to execute single-tasks with higher brain activation. In the brain regions that are needed for both tasks, the reduced residual capacity may interfere with performance of the dual-task. This competition for shared brain regions has been called structural interference. The purpose of the study was to determine whether structural interference indeed plays a role in the age-related decrease in dual-task performance. Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) was used to investigate 23 young adults (20-29 years) and 32

SUBMITTER: Papegaaij S 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5722310 | biostudies-literature | 2017

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature