Effect of articulatory and mental tasks on postural control
Effect of articulatory and mental tasks on postural control
The present study sought to determine whether the increased postural instability produced by a spoken mental task was due to competing demands for attentional resources or perturbation of posture by articulation. Postural sway was measured in 36 normal subjects under the following conditions: repeating a number aloud (articulation), counting backwards aloud in multiples of seven (articulation and attention), counting backwards silently (attention), and no mental task (neither articulation nor attention). Articulation resulted in a significant increase in sway, whereas no effect of attention was observed. We conclude that in order to accurately assess the effect of attentional demands on postural control, it is important to eliminate or control the effects of articulation.
Attention, Cognition, Posture, Speech, Vestibular function tests
215-219
Yardley, Lucy
64be42c4-511d-484d-abaa-f8813452a22e
Gardner, Mark
ab3dbacb-9b3a-40d5-a3b4-02cf5303a4a9
Leadbetter, Antony
1d736e99-b568-4454-9c9c-e5e7deeee49a
Lavie, Nilli
efdc1630-9675-4f33-b37b-234bfb67acc5
5 February 1999
Yardley, Lucy
64be42c4-511d-484d-abaa-f8813452a22e
Gardner, Mark
ab3dbacb-9b3a-40d5-a3b4-02cf5303a4a9
Leadbetter, Antony
1d736e99-b568-4454-9c9c-e5e7deeee49a
Lavie, Nilli
efdc1630-9675-4f33-b37b-234bfb67acc5
Yardley, Lucy, Gardner, Mark, Leadbetter, Antony and Lavie, Nilli
(1999)
Effect of articulatory and mental tasks on postural control.
NeuroReport, 10 (2), .
(doi:10.1097/00001756-199902050-00003).
Abstract
The present study sought to determine whether the increased postural instability produced by a spoken mental task was due to competing demands for attentional resources or perturbation of posture by articulation. Postural sway was measured in 36 normal subjects under the following conditions: repeating a number aloud (articulation), counting backwards aloud in multiples of seven (articulation and attention), counting backwards silently (attention), and no mental task (neither articulation nor attention). Articulation resulted in a significant increase in sway, whereas no effect of attention was observed. We conclude that in order to accurately assess the effect of attentional demands on postural control, it is important to eliminate or control the effects of articulation.
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Published date: 5 February 1999
Keywords:
Attention, Cognition, Posture, Speech, Vestibular function tests
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Local EPrints ID: 509369
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/509369
ISSN: 0959-4965
PURE UUID: 0d5d2238-e21a-43e0-a4e5-53371c65fa05
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Date deposited: 19 Feb 2026 17:50
Last modified: 20 Feb 2026 02:36
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Author:
Mark Gardner
Author:
Antony Leadbetter
Author:
Nilli Lavie
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