10.6084/m9.figshare.8256038.v1
Sophie Carr
Sophie
Carr
M. Kathleen Pichora-Fuller
M. Kathleen
Pichora-Fuller
Karen Z. H. Li
Karen Z. H.
Li
Natalie Phillips
Natalie
Phillips
Jennifer L. Campos
Jennifer L.
Campos
Multisensory, Multi-Tasking Performance of Older Adults With and Without Subjective Cognitive Decline: Supplementary Material
Brill Online
2019
balance
aging
cognition
audition
vision
virtual reality
dementia
Sensory Processes, Perception and Performance
2019-07-01 08:15:57
Journal contribution
https://brill.figshare.com/articles/journal_contribution/Multisensory_Multi-Tasking_Performance_of_Older_Adults_With_and_Without_Subjective_Cognitive_Decline_Supplementary_Material/8256038
<p>As
the population ages, it is increasingly important to detect non-normative
cognitive declines as early as possible. Measures of combined sensory–motor–cognitive
functioning may be early markers for identifying individuals who are at
increased risk of developing dementia. Further, older adults experiencing
subjective cognitive decline (SCD) may have elevated risk of dementia compared
to those without SCD. Tasks involving complex, multisensory interactions
reflective of everyday challenges may be particularly sensitive to subjectively
perceived, pre-clinical declines. In the current study, older adults with and
without SCD were asked to simultaneously perform a standing balance task and a
listening task under increasingly challenging sensory/cognitive/motor
conditions using a dual-task paradigm in a realistic, immersive virtual
environment. It was hypothesized that, compared to older adults without SCD,
those with SCD would exhibit greater decrements in postural control and
listening response accuracy as sensory/motor/cognitive loads increased.
However, counter to predictions, older adults with SCD demonstrated greater
reductions in postural sway under more challenging dual-task conditions than those
without SCD. Across both groups, poorer postural task performance was
associated with poorer cognitive function and speech-in-noise thresholds
measured with standard baseline tests. Poorer listening task performance was
associated with poorer global cognitive function, poorer mobility, and poorer
speech-in-noise detection. Overall, the results provide additional support for
the growing evidence demonstrating associations between sensory, motor, and
cognitive functioning and contribute to an evolving consideration of how best
to categorize and characterize SCD in a way that guides strategies for
screening, assessment, and intervention. <b></b></p>