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. 2015 Apr 1;113(7):2127-36.
doi: 10.1152/jn.00083.2014. Epub 2015 Jan 14.

The effect of age on postural and cognitive task performance while using vibrotactile feedback

Chia-Cheng Lin  1 , Susan L Whitney  2 , Patrick J Loughlin  3 , Joseph M Furman  4 , Mark S Redfern  4 , Kathleen H Sienko  5 , Patrick J Sparto  4
Affiliations

The effect of age on postural and cognitive task performance while using vibrotactile feedback

Chia-Cheng Lin et al. J Neurophysiol. .

Abstract

Vibrotactile feedback (VTF) has been shown to improve balance performance in healthy people and people with vestibular disorders in a single-task experimental condition. It is unclear how age-related changes in balance affect the ability to use VTF and if there are different attentional requirements for old and young adults when using VTF. Twenty younger and 20 older subjects participated in this two-visit study to examine the effect of age, VTF, sensory condition, cognitive task, duration of time, and visit on postural and cognitive performance. Postural performance outcome measures included root mean square of center of pressure (COP) and trunk tilt, and cognitive performance was assessed using the reaction time (RT) from an auditory choice RT task. The results showed that compared with younger adults, older adults had an increase in COP in fixed platform conditions when using VTF, although they were able to reduce COP during sway-referenced platform conditions. Older adults also did not benefit fully from using VTF in their first session. The RTs for the secondary cognitive tasks increased significantly while using the VTF in both younger and older adults. Older adults had a larger increase compared with younger adults, suggesting that greater attentional demands were required in older adults when using VTF information. Future training protocols for VTF should take into consideration the effect of aging.

Keywords: aging; balance; dual task; postural sway; reaction time; sensory substitution; vibrotactile feedback.

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Figures

Fig. 1.
Fig. 1.
Effect of vibrotactile feedback (VTF)-Age-Condition interaction on the root-mean-square of the anterior-posterior center of pressure (RMS COP). Light conditions: eyes open (EO) and eyes open in the dark (EOD). Platform conditions: fixed platform (Fixed) and sway-referenced platform (SR). CI, confidence interval.
Fig. 2.
Fig. 2.
Effect of VTF-Age-Visit interaction on the RMS COP.
Fig. 3.
Fig. 3.
Effect of Period-VTF-Condition interaction on the RMS COP. Light conditions: EO and EOD. Platform conditions: Fixed and SR. Period 1: 1–30 s; Period 2: 31–60 s; Period 3: 61–90 s; Period 4: 91–120 s.
Fig. 4.
Fig. 4.
Age-Condition (A), Condition-Visit (B), and Condition-Period (C) interactions on the RMS of the anterior-posterior trunk tilt (RMS Trunk Tilt) when VTF was applied.
Fig. 5.
Fig. 5.
Effect of Age-VTF (A), VTF-Visit (B), and Age-Visit (C) interactions on median reaction time.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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