Patterns of prefrontal cortical activity associated with attention-demanding and motor aspects of dual-task walking as measured with functional near-infrared spectroscopy

Abstract

The ability to engage in everyday tasks, such as walking, requires the integration of cognitive and motor processes. How these processes integrate may be discernable through the relation of brain activity patterns to behavioral performance, particularly in the prefrontal cortex (PFC), examination of which has been restricted because of the limitations in experimental design. We related behavior (cognition, walking) to brain activity, as measured by functional near-infrared spectroscopy, under dual-task conditions (cognition while walking) in healthy young adults. Our probe design enabled us to examine eight regions of interest across PFC and motor cortex to identify key areas related to behavior. Healthy young adults (N = 19) engaged in standing cognition (Serial 3 subtraction), single-task walking, and dual-task walking. We used functional near-infrared spectroscopy to identify regions associated with increases or decreases in activity under dual-task relative to the other conditions. We observed differences in brain activity patterns by task across multiple regions of interest, mostly in PFC. Specifically, more lateral regions were related to attention-demanding tasks, whereas motor tasks were related to relatively medial regions. Our results relate behavior to brain activity, as measured by functional near-infrared spectroscopy, under dual-task conditions. Our finding of relatively lateral PFC activity during attention-demanding tasks provides insights into behavioral and brain processes during experimental analogues of everyday activity, bringing us closer to understanding behavior-brain relations in the real world. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2025 APA, all rights reserved).