The goalkeeper game as a tool for predicting the decline of gait automaticity in adults

• Grant number: 24/16868-4
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Initiation
• Start date: October 01, 2024
• End date: July 31, 2026
• Field of knowledge: Health Sciences - Physiotherapy and Occupational Therapy
• Principal Investigator: Maria Elisa Pimentel Piemonte
• Grantee: Denilson Feijoeiro Garcia
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Medicina (FM). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). São Paulo , SP, Brazil
• Associated research grant: 13/07699-0 - Research, Innovation and Dissemination Center for Neuromathematics - NeuroMat, AP.CEPID

Abstract

Walking in dual-task (DT) conditions, i.e., concomitantly with another cognitive task, in everyday life it is the norm and not the exception. This is possible because control of the gait is automatic, i.e., postural adjustments and rhythmic repetitive movements are carried out without attention being clearly directed to the details of each step. Despite this, even young adults present changes in parameters of marching in DT conditions. Although the implicit learning and memory system are responsible for automatic control of movements, including gait, few studies have investigated the relationship between implicit learning and automaticity of movement. The Goalkeeper's Game (JG), a computerized game built to evaluate the probabilistic learning implicit by CEPID NeuroMat, showed predictive power for changes in gait in complex conditions (walking between obstacles) in people with Parkinson's disease, who are known to have changes in automaticity and implicit learning due to dysfunctions in striatal circuits. However, we don't know if the game would be able to predict the gait performance in DT in adults without neurological changes that supposedly has preserved implicit learning.