Postural Control During Concurrent Cognitive Tasks During Optic Flow Stimulation

August 14, 2023 updated by: Chia-Cheng Lin, PhD, PT, MSPT

Characterizing Brain Activation and Postural Response During Concurrent Cognitive Tasks in the Presence of Optic Flow Stimulation: A Functional Near-Infrared Spectroscopy Study

The purpose of this study is to investigate brain activity during current visual and auditory tasks for balance control. The participants will perform cognitive, gait, and balance measures before the data collection to exclude people with neurological disorders. The participants will wear VR headset which provides visual tasks. The participants will need to maintain balance while performing concurrent visual and auditory tasks. The brain activities, reaction time, and eye-tracking data will be collected during doing our experimental tasks.

Study Overview

Status

Recruiting

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Detailed Description

Virtual reality (VR), defined as an interactive system including computers and media peripherals, creates an environment similar to a real-world and also provides audio and video feedback to users. Recently, the virtual reality technology is able to make a headset displaying 360 degrees VR environment and locate the headset in the space. This improvement of VR technology significantly reduces the cost of VR equipment and enhances the application of VR technology in the field of balance assessment and treatment.

Optic flow (OF) has been used to study the effect of visual input on balance control. Most of the studies displayed OF on a screen rather than using 360 degrees visual field environment. Therefore, the subjects could obtain reference inputs for balance adjustment. The new VR headset makes it possible to play OF in a 360-degree visual field in which the subject will not able to obtain any reference inputs rather than using somatosensory and/or vestibular systems. It is unclear how the effect of aging and attention relocation affects postural control with concurrent visual and auditory attention tasks. In this study, fNIRS will be used to detect the brain activity of healthy adults in the prefrontal and temporal-parietal junction as they complete concurrent cognitive and visual tasks displayed by a VR headset. This work will focus on age and test positions (sitting vs standing). As age can play a role in brain activation levels, the investigators will compare results among younger adults (25-35 years), older adults (65-85 years), and older adults with the risk of falls. All the subjects will undergo concurrent auditory reaction time tasks and visual tracking tasks. The investigators will compare the brain images from the test conditions between the age groups and investigate if brain activity differs during the performance of reaction time tasks and visual tacking tasks. The goal of this study is to examine the effect of concurrent visual and auditory tasks on brain activation and postural control.

Study Type

Observational

Enrollment (Estimated)

72

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Contact

Study Contact Backup

  • Name: Chia-Cheng Lin, PhD
  • Phone Number: 252-744-6231
  • Email: linch14@ecu.edu

Study Locations

  • United States
    • North Carolina
      • Greenville, North Carolina, United States, 27834
        • Recruiting
        • East Carolina University
        • Contact:

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Ages Eligible for Study

25 years to 85 years (Adult, Older Adult)

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Sampling Method

Probability Sample

Study Population

Healthy younger adults: aged between 25-45 years old Healthy older adults: aged between 65-85 years old Older adults with risks of falls: aged between 65-85 years old

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • must not have any vestibular, orthopedic or neurological disorders, knee or hip replacements, reports of dizziness, low visual acuity (corrective vision less than 20/40) or require the use of an assistive device for ambulation.
  • Right-handed

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Healthy group: have a low fall risk profile based on current available clinical balance and gait assessment tools, such as the MiniBEST and STEADI fall risk self-assessment tool and normal cognitive status using the Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA > 26/30)
  • Fall risk group: other medical issues rather than balance problems

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

  • Observational Models: Case-Control
  • Time Perspectives: Prospective

Cohorts and Interventions

Group / Cohort
Intervention / Treatment
Healthy Younger Adults
Healthy younger adults without any neurological and orthopedic disorders.
Other: Optic Flow Stimulation
The optic flow will be displayed at different speeds. The subject will need to look at the center of the optic flow.
Other: Auditory Reaction Time
Two different pitches of tones will be played. The participants will need to press a button on the right or left hand based on the pitch of the tone.
Healthy Older Adults
Healthy older adults without any neurological and orthopedic disorders.
Other: Optic Flow Stimulation
The optic flow will be displayed at different speeds. The subject will need to look at the center of the optic flow.
Other: Auditory Reaction Time
Two different pitches of tones will be played. The participants will need to press a button on the right or left hand based on the pitch of the tone.
Older Adults with higher risk of falls
Older adults with a history of falls or poor balance based on the clinical balance and gait assessment.
Other: Optic Flow Stimulation
The optic flow will be displayed at different speeds. The subject will need to look at the center of the optic flow.
Other: Auditory Reaction Time
Two different pitches of tones will be played. The participants will need to press a button on the right or left hand based on the pitch of the tone.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Brain activation of region of interest
Time Frame: 30 minutes
The functional Near-Infrared Spectroscopy (fNIRS) will be used to collect the brain activity in the region of interest. The fNIRS is a non-invasive neuroimaging technology that has been used to study brain activation during dynamic conditions.
30 minutes
Postural Sway
Time Frame: 30 minutes
A forceplate will be used to measure the postural sway during static standing conditions.
30 minutes
Reaction time
Time Frame: 30 minutes
The auditory choice reaction time task will be used to measure the reaction time. The participant will need to push a button on right hand when hearing a lower pitch of tone and left hand when hearing a higher pitch of tone.
30 minutes

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Sponsor

Chia-Cheng Lin, PhD, PT, MSPT

Collaborators

National Institute on Aging (NIA)

Investigators

  • Principal Investigator: Brain Sylcott, PhD, East Carolina University

Publications and helpful links

The person responsible for entering information about the study voluntarily provides these publications. These may be about anything related to the study.

General Publications

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start (Actual)

July 1, 2022

Primary Completion (Estimated)

July 30, 2024

Study Completion (Estimated)

August 31, 2024

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

October 14, 2021

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

November 2, 2021

First Posted (Actual)

November 11, 2021

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

August 15, 2023

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

August 14, 2023

Last Verified

August 1, 2023

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Other Study ID Numbers

  • Interventional (Oncolys BioPharma Inc)
  • R21AG070300 (U.S. NIH Grant/Contract)

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?

NO

Drug and device information, study documents

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product

No

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product

No

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

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