Differences in walking habits could predict type of cognitive decline in older people

Different walking patterns in older people could more accurately diagnose different types of dementia and identify Alzheimer’s disease, according to a study by Canadian and London researchers at the Lawson Health Research Institute and Western University. Their results were published in Alzheimer’s and dementia: the journal of the Alzheimer’s Association.

“We have long-standing evidence that cognitive problems, such as poor memory and executive dysfunction, can be predictors of dementia. Now we see that motor performance, especially the way you walk, can help diagnose different types of neurodegenerative conditions, ”said Manuel Montero-Odasso, PhD, scientist at Lawson and professor at the Schulich School of Medicine & Dentistry from Western, in a press release.

The study compared walking impairments across the cognitive spectrum, including people with subjective cognitive impairment, Parkinson’s disease, mild cognitive impairment, Alzheimer’s disease, Lewy body dementia, and dementia. frontotemporal, as well as cognitively healthy controls.

Rhythm, rhythm, variability and postural control have been identified as the 4 stages. Only high variability in steps – or the step-by-step fluctuations in distance and time that occur when we walk – was associated with poorer cognitive performance, identifying Alzheimer’s disease with 70% accuracy, according to the ‘study.

“This is the first strong evidence showing that variability in gait is an important marker of processes occurring in areas of the brain that are linked to both cognitive impairment and motor control,” said the study author Frederico Perruccini-Faria, research assistant at Lawson and postdoctoral associate. at Western’s Schulich School of Medicine & Dentistry, in a press release. “We have shown that a high variability in gait as a marker of this cognitive-cortical dysfunction can reliably identify Alzheimer’s disease compared to other neurodegenerative disorders.

Researchers have found that when cognitive-cortical dysfunction occurs, a person’s ability to multitask is affected, such as talking while walking or chopping vegetables while talking with family members.

“We find that gait variability is similar to arrhythmia. Healthcare providers could measure it with patients in the clinic, the same way we assess heart rate with EKGs, ”Montero-Odasso said in a press release.

REFERENCE
Differences in walking habits could predict the type of cognitive decline in older people. Lawson Health Research Institute. https://www.lawsonresearch.ca/differences-walking-patterns-could-predict-type-cognitive-decline-older-adults. Posted February 16, 2021. Accessed February 18, 2021.