Abstract
It is now accepted that performing a cognitive task impacts postural control (Polskaia and Lajoie 2016; Vuillerme et al. Neurosci Lett 291: 77–80, 2000). However, the reverse impact of posture on cognitive performance is less documented. The present study investigated performance in two cognitive activities (memory and arithmetic) performed in three different postural conditions (sitting, standing, and walking). Overall, our data suggest that the posture adopted during a task can improve cognitive performance with a better answer for arithmetic in the sitting position than during walking but more correctly recalled words while walking. This study, thus, suggests that there could be preferential association between cognition and posture, i.e., memory cognitive performance can be improved when walking and mental arithmetic while sitting.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Alloway R, Alloway T, Magyari P, Floyd S (2016) An exploratory study investigating the effects of barefoot running on working memory. Percept Mot Skills 122(2):432–443. https://doi.org/10.1177/0031512516640391
Allum JHJ, Keshner EA, Honegger F, Pfaltz CR (1988) Organization of leg-trunk-head equilibrium movements in normals and patients with peripheral vestibular deficits. Prog Brain Res 76:277–290. https://doi.org/10.1016/s0079-6123(08)64514-8
Al-Yahya E, Dawes H, Smith L, Dennis A, Howells K, Cockburn J (2011) Cognitive motor interference while walking: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Neurosci Biobehav Rev 35:715–728. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neubiorev.2010.08.008
Andersson G, Hagman J, Talianzadeh R, Svedberg A, Larsen HC (2002) Effect of cognitive load on postural control. Brain Res Bull 59(1):135–139
Bayot M, Dujardin K, Tard C, Defebvre L, Bonnet C, Allart E, Delval A (2018) The interaction between cognition and motor control: a theoretical framework for dual-task interference effects on posture, gait initiation, gait and turning. Clin Neurophysiol 48:361–375. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neucli.2018.10.003
Beauchet O, Dubost V, Herrmann F, Kressig R (2005) Stride-to-stride variability while backward counting among healthy young adults. J Neuroeng Rehabil. https://doi.org/10.1186/1743-0003-2-26
Boisgontier M, Mignardot JB, Nougier V, Olivier I, Palluel E (2011) Le coût attentionnel associé aux fonctions exécutives impliquées dans le contrôle postural. Sci Motricité 74:53–64. https://doi.org/10.1051/sm/2011106
Brown L, Shumway-Cook A, Wollacott M (1999) Attentional demands and postural recovery: the effects of aging. J Gerontol Biol Sci Med Sci 54:165–171
Ceyte H, Lion A, Caudron S, Kriem B, Perrin P, Gauchard G (2014) Does calculating impair postural stabilization allowed by visual cues? Exp Brain Res 232:2221–2228. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00221-014-3913-1
Dault MC, Geurts AC, Mulder TW, Duysens J (2001) Postural control and cognitive task performance in healthy participants while balancing on different support-surface configurations. Gait Posture 14(3):248–255
Dehaene S (2010) La bosse des maths. Odile Jacob, Paris
Fan J, McCandliss B, Sommer T, Raz A, Posner M (2002) Testing the efficiency and independence of attentional networks. J Cognit Neurosci 14(3):340–347. https://doi.org/10.1162/089892902317361886
Fraizer E, Mitra S (2008) Methodological and interpretive issues in posture—cognition dual tasking in upright stance. Gait Posture 27:271–279. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gaitpost.2007.04.002
Freund AM (2008) Successful aging as management of resources: the role of selection, optimization, and compensation. Res Hum Dev 5(2):94–106. https://doi.org/10.1080/15427600802034827
Gardner M, Leadbetter A, Lavie N (1999) Effect of articulatory and mental tasks on postural control. NeuroReport 10:215–219
Hamill J, Knutzen K (2003) Biomechanical basis of human movement. Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, Philadelphia
Honegger F (2013) Head and trunk movement strategies in quiet stance: from the deficit of vestibular loss to the expertise of tightrope walkers via prosthetic feedback. Doctoral Thesis, University of Basel, Faculty of Medicine.
Houdé O, Borst G (2018) Le cerveau et les apprentissages—cycles 1,2,3. Nathan, Paris
Huang H, Mercer V, Thorpe D (2003) Effects of different concurrent cognitive tasks on temporal-distance gait variables in children. Pediatric Phys Ther 15:105–113
Hunter MC, Hoffman MA (2001) Postural control: visual and cognitive manipulations. Gait Posture 13(1):41–48. https://doi.org/10.1016/s0966-6362(00)00089-8
Huxhold O, Li S-C, Schmiedek F, Lindenberger U (2006) Dual-tasking postural control: aging and the effects of cognitive demand in conjunction with focus of attention. Brain Res Bull 69:294–305. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.brainresbull.2006.01.002
Igarashi G, Karashima C, Hoshiyama M (2016) Effect of cognitive load on seating posture in children. Occup Ther Int 23(1):48–56. https://doi.org/10.1002/oti.1405
Inagaki K, Shimizu T, Sakairi Y (2018) Effects of posture regulation on mood states, heart rate and test performance in children. Educ Psychol 38(9):1129–1146. https://doi.org/10.1080/01443410.2018.1504003
Johnson S, Blum R, Giedd J (2009) Adolescent maturity and the brain: the promise and pitfalls of neuroscience research in adolescent health policy. J Adolesc Health 45(3):216–221. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jadohealth.2009.05.016
Kerr B, Condon S, McDonald L (1985) Cognitive spatial processing and the regulation of posture. J Exp Psychol Hum Percept Perform 11:617–622
Khalil GA, Legrand A, Doré Mazars K (2018) Optimisation des performance cognitives par la posture. Clin Neurophysiol 48(6):323. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neucli.2018.10.031
Krampe RT, Schaefer S, Lindenberger U, Baltes PB (2011) Lifespan changes in multi-tasking: concurrent walking and memory search in children, young, and older adults. Gait Posture 33:401–405. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gaitpost.2010.12.012
Lacour M, Bernard-Damanze L, Dumitrescu M (2008) Posture control, aging, and attention resources: models and posture-analysis methods. Clin Neurophysiol 38:411–421. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neucli.2008.09.005
Lajoie Y, Teasdale N, Bard C, Fleury M (1993) Attentional demands for static and dynamic equilibrium. Exp Brain Res 97:139–144
Legrand A (2013) Interférences entre le système oculomoteur et le système postural chez l’enfant et l’adulte. Thèse de doctorant en sciences cognitives non publiée, Université Paris Descartes, Paris
Legrand A, Mazars K, Lemoine C, Nougier V, Olivier I (2016) Interference between oculomotor and postural tasks in 7–8 years old children and adults. Exp Brain Res 234:1667–1677. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00221-016-4565-0
Li KZH, Lindenberger U, Freund AM, Baltes PB (2001) Walking while memorizing: age-related differences in compensatory behavior. Psychol Sci 12:230–237. https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-9280.00341
Lindenberger U, Marsiske M, Baltes P (2000) Memorizing while walking: increase in duel-task costs from young adulthood to old age. Psychol Aging 15(3):417–436. https://doi.org/10.1037//0882-7974.15.3.417
Maki BE, Holliday PJ, Fernie GR (1990) Aging and postural control. A comparison of spontaneous- and induced-sway balance tests. Am Geriatr Soc 38(1):1–9. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1532-5415.1990.tb01588.x
Marsh A, Geel S (2000) The effect of age on the attentional demands of postural control. Gait Posture 12:105–115. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0966-6362(00)00074-6
Mathôt S, Schreij D, Theeuwes J (2012) OpenSesame: an open-source, graphical experiment builder for the social sciences. Behav Res Methods 44(2):314–324. https://doi.org/10.3758/s13428-011-0168-7
Mihara M, Miyai I, Hatakenaka M, Kubota K, Sakoda S (2008) Role of the prefrontal cortex in human balance control. NeuroImage 43(2):329–336. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuroimage.2008.07.029
Mitra S (2003) Postural costs of suprapostural task load. Hum Mov Sci 22(3):253–270. https://doi.org/10.1016/s0167-9457(03)00052-6
Moghimi D, Scheibe S, Freund AM (2019) The model of selection, optimization, compensation. In: Baltes BB, Rudolph CW, Zacher H (eds) Work across the lifespan. Elsevier, Hoboken, pp 81–110
Nashner LM, Shupert CL, Horak FB (1988) Head-trunk movement coordination in the standing posture. Prog Brain Res 76:243–251. https://doi.org/10.1016/s0079-6123(08)64511-2
New B, Pallier C, Ferrand L, Matos R (2001) Une base de données lexicales du français contemporain sur internet: LEXIQUE™//A lexical database for contemporary french: LEXIQUE™. L'année psychologique 101(3–4):447–462
Olivier I, Palluel E, Nougier V (2008) Effects of attentional focus on postural sway in children and adults. Exp Brain Res 185(2):341–345
Olivier I, Cuisinier R, Vaugoyeau M, Nougier V, Assaiante C (2010) Age-related differences in cognitive and postural dual-task performance. Gait Posture 32:494–499. https://doi.org/10.10116/j.gaitpost.2010.07.008
Patel P, Lamar M, Bhatt T (2014) Effect of type of cognitive task and walking speed on cognitive-motor interference during dual-task walking. Neuroscience 260:140–148. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuroscience.2013.12.016
Plummer P, Eskes G, Wallace S, Giuffrida C, Fraas M, Campbell G, Clifton K, Skidmore ER (2013) Cognitive-motor interference during functional mobility after stroke: state of the science and implications for future research. Arch Phys Med Rehabil 94(12):2565–2574. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apmr.2013.08.002
Pozzo T, Berthoz A, Lefort L (1990) Head stabilization during various locomotor tasks in humans. Exp Brain Res 82(1):97–106. https://doi.org/10.1007/bf00230842
R Core Team (2014) R: a language and environment for statistical computing. R Foundation for StatisticalComputing, Vienna, Austria. https://www.R-project.org/
Riccio GE, Stoffregen TA (1988) Affordances as constraints on the control of stance. Hum Mov Sci 7(2–4):265–300. https://doi.org/10.1016/0167-9457(88)90014-0
RStudio Team (2016) RStudio: integrated development for R. RStudio, Inc., Boston, MA. https://www.rstudio.com/.
Sakairi Y, Nakatsuka K, Shimizu T (2013) Development of the two-dimensional mood scale for self-monitoring and self-regulation of momentary mood states. Jpn Psychol Res 55:338–349. https://doi.org/10.1111/jpr.12021
Saporta G (2006) Probabilités, Analyse des données et Statistique, 2nd edn. Technip, Paris
Schaefer S (2014) The ecological approach to cognitive-motor dual-tasking: findings on the effects of expertise and age. Front Psychol 5:1–9. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2014.01167
Schaefer S, Krampe RT, Lindenberger U, Baltes PB (2008) Age differences between children and young adults in the dynamics of dual-task prioritization: body (balance) versus mind (memory). Dev Psychol 44:747–757. https://doi.org/10.1037/0012-1649.44.3.747
Schaefer S, Lövdén M, Wieckhorst B, Lindenberger U (2010) Cognitive performance is improved while walking: differences in cognitive–sensorimotor couplings between children and young adults. Eur J Dev Psychol 7(3):371–389. https://doi.org/10.1080/17405620802535666
Sheridan PL, Solomont J, Kowall N, Hausdorff JM (2003) Influence of executive function on locomotor function: divided attention increasesgait variability in Alzheimer’s disease. J Am Geriatr Soc 51:1633–1637
Smith K, Davoli C, Knapp W, Abrams R (2019) Standing enhances cognitive control and alters visual search. Atten Percept Psychophys. https://doi.org/10.3758/s13414-019-01723-6
Stensdotter AK, Lorås HW, Fløvig JC, Djupsjöbacka M (2013) Postural control in quiet standing in patients with psychotic disorders. Gait Posture 38(4):918–922
Stoffregen T, Pagulayan R, Bardy B, Hettinger L (2000) Modulating postural control to facilitate visual performance. Hum Mov Sci 19:203–220
Stoffregen T, Hove P, Bardy B, Riley M, Bonnet C (2007) Postural stabilization of perceptual but not cognitive performance. J Mot Behav 39:126–138
Vuillerme N, Vincent H (2006) How performing a mental arithmetic task modify the regulation of center of foot pressure displacements during bipedal quiet standing. Exp Brain Res 169(1):130–134
Vuillerme N, Nougier V, Teasdale N (2000) Effects of a reaction time task on postural control in humans. Neurosci Lett 291:77–80
Wickham H (2009) ggplot2: Elegant graphics for data analysis. Springer, New York
Woollacott M, Shumway-Cook A (2002) Attention and the control of posture and gait: a review of an emerging area of research. Gait Posture 16:1–14
Wulf G, Prinz W (2001) Directing attention to movement effects enhances learning: a review. Psychon Bull Rev 8(4):640–660. https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03196201
Wulf G, Töllner T, Shea CH (2007) Attentional focus effects as a function of task difficulty. Res Q Exerc Sport 78(3):257–264
Wydenkeller S, Liechti M, Müller R, Curt A (2006) Impaired scaling of responses to vestibular stimulation in incomplete SCI. Exp Brain Res 175(1):191–195. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00221-006-0688-z
Yardley L, Gardner M, Leadbetter A, Lavie N (1999) Effect of articulatory and mental tasks on postural control. Neuroreport 10(2):215–219
Acknowledgements
We thank the editor and reviewers for considering this manuscript. We thank Nadia Alahyane and Chrystal Gaertner for their help with the English version. We acknowledge the sensorimotority platform core facility of BioMedTech Facilities INSERM US36 | CNRS UMS2009 | Université de Paris.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
Conflict of interest
The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.
Ethical approval
All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee (local Ethics Committee of Paris Descartes University, No. CER PD 2018-09 and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.
Informed consent
Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study.
Additional information
Communicated by Francesco Lacquaniti.
Publisher's Note
Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Abou Khalil, G., Doré-Mazars, K., Senot, P. et al. Is it better to sit down, stand up or walk when performing memory and arithmetic activities?. Exp Brain Res 238, 2487–2496 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00221-020-05858-z
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00221-020-05858-z