• PNF and Movement
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• v.7 no.4
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• pp.31-36
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• 2009

Many daily activities require people to complete a motor task while walking. Substantial gait decrements during simultaneous attention to a variety of cognitive tasks have been shown by a group of severely injured neurological patients of mixed etiology. And previous studies have shown that the attentional load of a walking-associated task increased with its level of difficulty. The purpose of this study was to analyze subjects' gait changes are affected by the effects of arithmetic task difficulty and performance level. Participants performed a walking task alone, three different Arithmetic tasks while seated, and among them, two kinds of the simillar Arithmetic tasks in combination with walking. Reaction time and accuracy were recorded for two of the Arithmetic tasks. The mean values of the gait were measured using a Timed Up and Go test among 11 with post-stroke patients while walking with and without forward counting (WFC) and backward counting(WBC).There was significant Arithmetic Task Difficulty level between the 10-forward counting task condition(FC) and the 10-backward counting task condition(BC)(p=0.008). The mean values of T.U.G time were significantly higher under backward counting dual-task condition than during a simple walking task(p=0.009) and WFC(p=0.009). The change in T.U.G time during WFC was higher when compared with the change during a simple walking, but there was no significant difference (p=0.246). This study suggesting that a high interference could be linked with a high level of difficulty, whereas adaptive task enabled participants to perfectly share their attention between two concurrent tasks. Future research should determine whether dual task training can reduce gait decrements in dual task situations in people after stroke. And the dual-task-based exercise program is feasible and beneficial for improving walking ability in subjects with stroke.