Learning Strategies for Improving Dual Task Performance in Multiple Sclerosis

Dual task (STEP + substraction sevens)

participants will step as fast as possible on a tile that lights up in a goal-directed stepping task on a platform consisting of 21 stepping tiles. Concurrently, they will perform a cognitive task in which they continuously subtract sevens, starting from a 3-digit given start number. Duration of the task depends on the speed of the participant (42 steps).

Time frame: day 2

Dual task (STEP + substraction sevens)

participants will step as fast as possible on a tile that lights up in a goal-directed stepping task on a platform consisting of 21 stepping tiles. Concurrently, they will perform a cognitive task in which they continuously subtract sevens, starting from a 3-digit given start number. Duration of the task depends on the speed of the participant (42 steps).

Time frame: day 4

Dual task (STEP + phonetic word list generation)

participants will step as fast as possible on a tile that lights up in a goal-directed stepping task on a platform consisting of 21 stepping tiles. Concurrently, they will perform a cognitive task in which they try to come up with as many words as possible starting with a given letter. Duration of the task depends on the speed of the participant (42 steps).

Time frame: day 2

Dual task (STEP + phonetic word list generation)

participants will step as fast as possible on a tile that lights up in a goal-directed stepping task on a platform consisting of 21 stepping tiles. Concurrently, they will perform a cognitive task in which they try to come up with as many words as possible starting with a given letter. Duration of the task depends on the speed of the participant (42 steps).

Time frame: day 4

Dual task (STEP + Auditory vigilance)

participants will step as fast as possible on a tile that lights up in a goal-directed stepping task on a platform consisting of 21 stepping tiles. Concurrently, they will perform a cognitive task in which they hear a string of letters (1 every 2.5 seconds) and are asked to respond as quickly as possible when they hear the target letter 'L' or 'R'. Duration of the task depends on the speed of the participant (42 steps).

Time frame: day 2

Dual task (STEP + Auditory vigilance)

participants will step as fast as possible on a tile that lights up in a goal-directed stepping task on a platform consisting of 21 stepping tiles. Concurrently, they will perform a cognitive task in which they hear a string of letters (1 every 2.5 seconds) and are asked to respond as quickly as possible when they hear the target letter 'L' or 'R'. Duration of the task depends on the speed of the participant (42 steps).

Time frame: day 4

Dual Task (WALK + Subtraction sevens)

participants will walk on their comfortable, preferred walking speed on a 30-meter walkway. Concurrently, they will perform a cognitive task in which they continuously subtract sevens, starting from a 3-digit given start number. Duration of the task is 30 seconds.

Time frame: day 2

Dual Task (WALK + Subtraction sevens)

participants will walk on their comfortable, preferred walking speed on a 30-meter walkway. Concurrently, they will perform a cognitive task in which they continuously subtract sevens, starting from a 3-digit given start number. Duration of the task is 30 seconds.

Time frame: day 4

Dual Task (WALK + Word list generation (phonetic)

participants will walk on their comfortable, preferred walking speed on a 30-meter walkway. Concurrently, they will perform a cognitive task in which they try to come up with as many words as possible starting with a given letter. Duration of the task is 30 seconds.

Time frame: day 2

Dual Task (WALK + Word list generation (phonetic)

participants will walk on their comfortable, preferred walking speed on a 30-meter walkway. Concurrently, they will perform a cognitive task in which they try to come up with as many words as possible starting with a given letter. Duration of the task is 30 seconds.

Time frame: day 4

Dual Task (WALK + Auditory vigilance)

participants will walk on their comfortable, preferred walking speed on a 30-meter walkway. Concurrently, they will perform a cognitive task in which they hear a string of letters (1 every 2.5 seconds) and are asked to respond as quickly as possible when they hear the target letter 'L' or 'R'. Duration of the task is 30 seconds.

Time frame: day 2

Dual Task (WALK + Auditory vigilance)

participants will walk on their comfortable, preferred walking speed on a 30-meter walkway. Concurrently, they will perform a cognitive task in which they hear a string of letters (1 every 2.5 seconds) and are asked to respond as quickly as possible when they hear the target letter 'L' or 'R'. Duration of the task is 30 seconds.

Time frame: day 4

learning measure

participants will step as fast as possible on a tile that lights up in a goal-directed stepping task on a platform consisting of 21 stepping tiles. The outcome measure on this task is response time (time from the moment the tile lights up, until the participant steps on the tile).

Time frame: Day 3

fNIRS measure (functional near-infrared spectroscopy)

a block-design test with 3 tasks (cognitive ST, motor ST and DT) of 25 seconds per task-block (repeated 5 times) will be conducted with a functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) neuroimaging system to measure hemoglobin changes during performance of the task and compared between single task and dual task conditions and between groups. Besides, fNIRS will be used during 1 task related to the learning-paradigm.

Time frame: day 4