It is a well-documented fact that the rate of falls increases with advanced age. In an attempt to discern factors that contribute to the high fall rate in aging populations; investigators have looked to a task that is often executed while walking – talking. Although the effects of varying cognitive-linguistic load across a variety of dual-tasks have been heavily researched, few studies have systematically examined the contribution of increasingly complex cognitive-linguistic load on the gait parameters of healthy aging adults. Moreover, few researchers have utilized ecologically valid stimuli as a part of their investigation. The broad goal of this research was to examine the nature of the impact of manipulating cognitive-linguistic load hierarchy on gait in healthy aging. Discourse tasks of varying complexity were presented while participants walked a 44-foot walkway. The progression of discourse was from low load (explaining how to perform a task) to high load (completing a story initiated by the investigator). The dependent measures collected included measures of linguistic complexity, fluency, and gait. Results showed a significant effect of cognitive-linguistic load linguistic complexity on measures of discourse. Comparison of fluency measures across conditions revealed that cognitive-linguistic load did not have a significant impact on fluency. However, like measures of discourse, gait parameters were significantly affected by the addition of a secondary cognitive-linguistic task. Theoretically, these results could imply that a change in cognitive-linguistic and gait measures is linked to a sharing of resources involved in the execution of both tasks. In addition, these results also provide insight into dual-task performance and the potential contribution of cognitive-linguistic load on fall rates in healthy and neurologically compromised populations. / A Dissertation submitted to the Department of Communication Disorders in partial
fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. / Degree Awarded: Spring Semester, 2008. / Date of Defense: March 3, 2008. / Aging, Cognitive-Linguistic Load, Gait, Speech / Includes bibliographical references. / Julie A.G. Stierwalt, Professor Directing Dissertation; Rolf A. Zwaan, Outside Committee Member; Leonard L. LaPointe, Committee Member; Joanne Lasker, Committee Member; Lisa Scott, Committee Member.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:fsu.edu/oai:fsu.digital.flvc.org:fsu_169136 |
| Contributors | Wilson, Kimberly R. (authoraut), Stierwalt, Julie A.G. (professor directing dissertation), Zwaan, Rolf A. (outside committee member), LaPointe, Leonard L. (committee member), Lasker, Joanne (committee member), Scott, Lisa (committee member), School of Communication (degree granting department), Florida State University (degree granting institution) |
| Publisher | Florida State University |
| Source Sets | Florida State University |
| Language | English, English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Text, text |
| Format | 1 online resource, computer, application/pdf |
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