Neural and Gait Adaptations to Dual-Task Demands Across Development

Abstract

Cognitive-motor interactions describe the complex interplay underlying how the brain manages concurrent demands on motor and cognitive processing. Yet, how cognitive-motor interactions present across childhood and young adulthood remains understudied, particularly through multi-modal methods which include neurophysiology. We investigated development of cognitive-motor interactions using a dual-task study design including simultaneous motor (walking) and cognitive (visual Go-NoGo) tasks. Using mobile brain-body imaging, (MoBI), we recorded simultaneous EEG, gait kinematics, and task performance. 61 neurotypical 8-to-30-year-olds completed the Go-NoGo while seated or walking on a treadmill. With increased age, participants became faster and more accurate on the task, walking became less variable, and N200 and P300 ERP amplitudes increased. Two distinct effects of cognitive-motor interactions emerged with age. An N200 amplitude attenuation when walking became exaggerated with age, suggesting older participants engaged greater neurophysiological flexibility to support their improved task performances, whereas children performed less well and may not have needed to recruit the same adaptive neural mechanisms. Additionally, an attenuation of stride variability during dual-task walking lessened with age, demonstrating robust motor development under dual-task conditions. These findings demonstrate a distinct pattern of changes to cognitive-motor interactions through development. Future research can examine how this pattern varies in different developmental conditions.