Castro Chavira, Susana Angelica

Gorecka, Marta Maria

Rodriguez-Aranda, Claudia

Vangberg, Torgil Riise

Vasylenko, Olena

Waterloo, Knut

English

Munin - Open Research Archive

Association of white matter integrity and gait speed during dual-tasking among community-dwelling elderly adultsSusana A Castro-Chavira1, Torgil R Vangberg2, Marta M. Gorecka1, Olena Vasylenko1, Knut Waterloo1, Claudia Rodríguez-Aranda11Fac. of Hlth. Sciences, Dept. of Psychology, Univ. of Tromsø, Tromsø, Norway;2Dept. of Radiology and Nuclear Med., Univ. Hosp. North Norway, Tromsø, Norway Objective                                                                                            Changes occurring in gait and attention during normal aging increase theincidence of falls. To date, few studies have explored the role of age-related white matter degeneration on gait disturbances raised byperforming a cognitive task while walking. This study uses the dichoticlistening (DL) test to challenge gait in a dual-task paradigm. DL evaluateslateralized auditory attention with 3 different levels of difficulty.MethodsTwo age groups of right-handed elderly:• 29 younger (M = 65.52, 59-70 years old), and• 31 older (M = 75.87, 71-88 years old)Pure tone audiometry was conducted. The Optogait©-system was used toobtain gait speed measurements (mean and coefficient of variation) atbaseline and while performing DL during four conditions:MRI AcquisitionSingle-shot SE-EPI sequence with TE/TR = 80/10,700 ms, 70 axial slices,slice thickness 2.25 mm, and FOV252 x 252 mm in a Siemens Skyra 3.0Tscanner.DTI AnalysisWhite matter integrity was evaluated by fractional anisotropy (FA) usingTract-Based Spatial Statistics (TBSS). Non-parametric permutationanalysis using threshold-free cluster enhancement (P = 0.05) and thegeneral linear model applied to the TBSS analysis were used.ResultsGait PerformanceThe younger group presented faster average speed than the older groupin the BL, FR, and FL conditions. No group differences existed inspeed during the NF condition.Group differencesThe younger elderly group showed significantly (p < 0.05) larger FA,predominantly in the left hemisphere. The correlations for FA and ageshowed a significantly larger negative slope in the older group.There was a significant effect of gender on FA with women showinglarger FA values in right superior longitudinal fascicle, corticospinaltract, and body of the corpus callosum.Correlations between FA and speed in dual-taskingThe NF speed mean was positively associated to larger FA values inthe younger group in left optic radiation and splenium of the corpuscallosum, inferior longitudinal fasciculus, and cingulum (A).Conversely, larger FA values in the younger group were negativelyassociated with FL speed variability (coefficient of variation) in theleft inferior longitudinal fasciculus, left inferior fronto-occipitalfasciculus and optic radiation (B).ConclusionsResults of the present study showed significant associations for the DLconditions (NF and FL) presenting higher difficulty for right-handedsubjects. This data indicate that in healthy elderly, faster gait velocityand lower speed variability (i.e. less instability) under demandingconditions depend on better integrity of left hemispheric white mattertracts.E-mail: susana.a.chavira@uit.no; claudia.rodriguez-aranda@uit.noASSESSMENT CONDITIONSBaseline(gait alone)Baseline – BL(not listening)Dual-Task(gait + listening)Non-forced – NF(unrestricted attention)Forced right –FR(right ear listening)Forced left – FL(left ear listening)Significantly larger FA values in the younger elderly group (p < 0.05).Significantly larger FA valuesin the female (p < 0.05).Significantly larger FA values in the younger elderly group (p < 0.05).Non-forcedconditionForced-leftconditionGender EffectPoster 2017-S-12337-SfN

Association of white matter integrity and gait speed during dual-tasking among community-dwelling elderly adults

https://munin.uit.no/bitstream/handle/10037/30838/article.pdf?sequence=4&isAllowed=y

Association of white matter integrity and gait speed during dual-tasking among community-dwelling elderly adults

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