Mrs Fahimeh Habibi Far, Dr Alireza Farsi, Dr Behrooz Abdoli,
Volume 8, Issue 16 (12-2018)
Abstract
The purpose of the present study was to investigate the effect of concurrent cognitive tasks activating phonological loop and visuospatial scratchpad of working memory on gait in older adults.12 older adults with the age range of 65-70 years performed walking trials in 3 counterbalanced testing conditions including single walking, walking while performing visuospatial task and walking while performing phonological task. Walking trials were recorded by Motion Analysis system during the test session. Repeated measure ANOVA was used to analyze the gait parameters. The findings indicated a significant difference between 3 testing conditions in step time, cadence, acceleration amplitude variability and step width. The results also showed that in dual task condition, visuospatial scratchpad activation interferes with elderly gait more so than the phonological loop activation. Therefore, it seems that visuospatial scratchpad component of working memory might be specifically used for planning and carrying out gait as a motor task.
Hamdi Salehi, Samira Panahi,
Volume 13, Issue 26 (12-2023)
Abstract
This investigation aimed to determine the role of using specific gestures in simple arithmetic. Forty-seven university students (25 females; Mage = 23.45 ± 3.51 years) voluntarily participated in this study. The participants completed two tasks. In the item-counting task, the participants were shown sets of identical colored squares and asked to count a specific color by either finger-pointing, nodding, or without any gestures while counting. After completing the counting task and for measurement of the working memory performance, the participants were asked to recall lists of alphabets that were previously to them. The results revealed that when using finger-pointing or nodding while counting, the participants counted faster and more accurately than when gestures were not allowed. The results of the memory task showed that the participants retrieved significantly more alphabets and more quickly when using finger-pointing or nodding while counting than when not gesturing. Thus, the gestures helped to free up cognitive resources. The findings support the hypothesis that gestures may facilitate cognitive functions by reducing cognitive load. This present investigation, consistent with previous research, suggests that we can benefit from using our hand and head movements to facilitate some simple arithmetic tasks.
