Walking execution is not affected by divided attention in patients with multiple sclerosis with no disability, but there is a motor planning impairment

• Autor(a) principal: Nogueira,Leandro Alberto Calazans
• Data de Publicação: 2013
• Outros Autores: Santos,Luciano Teixeira dos, Sabino,Pollyane Galinari, Alvarenga,Regina Maria Papais, Thuler,Luiz Claudio Santos
• Tipo de documento: Artigo
• Idioma: eng
• Título da fonte: Arquivos de neuro-psiquiatria (Online)
• Texto Completo: http://old.scielo.br/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S0004-282X2013000800521
• topic: mild cognitive impairment; multiple sclerosis; walking

Purpose: We analysed the cognitive influence on walking in multiple sclerosis (MS) patients, in the absence of clinical disability. Method: A case-control study was conducted with 12 MS patients with no disability and 12 matched healthy controls. Subjects were referred for completion a timed walk test of 10 m and a 3D-kinematic analysis. Participants were instructed to walk at a comfortable speed in a dual-task (arithmetic task) condition, and motor planning was measured by mental chronometry. Results: Scores of walking speed and cadence showed no statistically significant differences between the groups in the three conditions. The dual-task condition showed an increase in the double support duration in both groups. Motor imagery analysis showed statistically significant differences between real and imagined walking in patients. Conclusion: MS patients with no disability did not show any influence of divided attention on walking execution. However, motor planning was overestimated as compared with real walking.