Interlimb coordination in Parkinson’s Disease is minimally affected by a visuospatial dual task
Allen Hill 
Julie Nantel
Parkinson’s disease (PD) leads to reduced spatial and temporal interlimb coordination during gait as well as reduced coordination in the upper or lower limbs. Multi-tasking when walking is common during real-world activities, and affects some gait characteristics, like gait speed and variability. However, the impact of a dual task (DT) on intra and interlimb coordination of both lower and upper limbs when walking in people with PD remains unknown. Seventeen volunteers with mild to moderate PD (11 males, 65 ± 8 years, 173 ± 8 cm, 74 ± 20 kg, Unified Parkinson’s Disease Rating Scale motor section 10 ± 5) participated in gait trials in an Extended-CAREN system, which includes a treadmill, 12-camera Vicon motion capture system, and a 180° field-of-view virtual reality projection screen. Participants completed a 3 min walking trial and a 2 min visuospatial word recognition DT trial at their preferred walking pace. Single and DT were compared with a paired t-test, and the less and more affected (LA, MA) sides were tested for equivalence in sensitivity to the DT. During the DT, we found the LA shoulder ROM decreased by 1.5°, and the LA shoulder peak flexion decreased by 1.1° (p<.028, gav>.12). The LA and MA hip ROM were differently affected by the dual task (p=.023), and intralimb coordination was affected by dual tasking equivalently between sides (p=.004). These results suggest that during normal single-task gait, people with PD use attentional resources to compensate for reduced arm swing. Furthermore, our results indicate that any effect of DT on lower intralimb coordination is not meaningfully different between the LA and MA sides.
Parkinson’s disease, dual task, interlimb coordination, relative phase, more affected side
Reuse
Citation
@article{hill2024,
author = {Hill, Allen and Nantel, Julie},
publisher = {Peer Community In},
title = {Interlimb Coordination in {Parkinson’s} {Disease} Is
Minimally Affected by a Visuospatial Dual Task},
journal = {Peer Community Journal},
volume = {4},
pages = {e31},
date = {2024-03-12},
url = {https://peercommunityjournal.org/articles/10.24072/pcjournal.387/},
doi = {10.24072/pcjournal.387},
langid = {en},
abstract = {Parkinson’s disease (PD) leads to reduced spatial and
temporal interlimb coordination during gait as well as reduced
coordination in the upper or lower limbs. Multi-tasking when walking
is common during real-world activities, and affects some gait
characteristics, like gait speed and variability. However, the
impact of a dual task (DT) on intra and interlimb coordination of
both lower and upper limbs when walking in people with PD remains
unknown. Seventeen volunteers with mild to moderate PD (11 males, 65
± 8 years, 173 ± 8 cm, 74 ± 20 kg, Unified Parkinson’s Disease
Rating Scale motor section 10 ± 5) participated in gait trials in an
Extended-CAREN system, which includes a treadmill, 12-camera Vicon
motion capture system, and a 180° field-of-view virtual reality
projection screen. Participants completed a 3 min walking trial and
a 2 min visuospatial word recognition DT trial at their preferred
walking pace. Single and DT were compared with a paired t-test, and
the less and more affected (LA, MA) sides were tested for
equivalence in sensitivity to the DT. During the DT, we found the LA
shoulder ROM decreased by 1.5°, and the LA shoulder peak flexion
decreased by 1.1° (p\textless.028, gav\textgreater.12). The LA and
MA hip ROM were differently affected by the dual task (p=.023), and
intralimb coordination was affected by dual tasking equivalently
between sides (p=.004). These results suggest that during normal
single-task gait, people with PD use attentional resources to
compensate for reduced arm swing. Furthermore, our results indicate
that any effect of DT on lower intralimb coordination is not
meaningfully different between the LA and MA sides.}
}