Gait variability, cognitive control, and brain BOLD signal variability in healthy, young adults
- UNCG Author/Contributor (non-UNCG co-authors, if there are any, appear on document)
- Shena A. Angelino (Creator)
- Institution
- The University of North Carolina at Greensboro (UNCG )
- Web Site: http://library.uncg.edu/
- Advisor
- Derek Monroe
Abstract: Gait variability has been studied in various diseases and in aging, however variability is observed even in young, healthy adults. Variability in stride time can be characterized in terms of short-term, or step-by-step variability, and long-term variability. It is plausible that these temporal parameters in gait have similar neural origins to the dual modes of cognitive control since both require goal-oriented, higher-order processing. A handful of frontoparietal areas have been widely observed to be important for the dynamic nature of these abilities. The purpose of this study is to test the hypothesis that the adaptability of this frontoparietal network, as defined by the variability of the blood oxygen level-dependent (BOLD) signal, underlies a relationship between cognitive control strategies and stride time variability. We recruited twenty healthy young adults between 18 and 35 years old (10 females; average age = 23.6 ± 3.9 years old) to measure performance on a stepping-in-place task, cognitive control, and BOLD signal variability using resting-state functional MRI. A Pearson correlation wase used to determine the association between proactive and reactive cognitive control strategies and long and short-term gait variability, and a partial least squares correlation was used to determine if there is a pattern of BOLD signal variability in a set of frontoparietal regions that jointly explains these cognitive-gait relationships. There was no relationship between cognitive control strategy and long- or short-term variability, however there was a pattern of BOLD variability, primarily in control and salience/ventral attention network regions, that was associated with both short-term gait variability, and to a lesser extent, long-term gait variability (Permutation p = 0.0323). These findings provide evidence of gait variability as a marker of brain variability in healthy, young adults and may open the door to understanding its role as a biomarker of brain health.
Gait variability, cognitive control, and brain BOLD signal variability in healthy, young adults
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Created on 5/1/2023
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Additional Information
- Publication
- Thesis
- Language: English
- Date: 2023
- Keywords
- Balance, BOLD signal variability, Cognitive control, Control network, FMRI, Gait variability
- Subjects
- Gait in humans
- Cognition
- Brain