This study investigates the effect of cognitive priming through mental arithmetic on functional mobility in post-stroke patients. It hypothesizes that performing mental calculations (addition, subtraction, multiplication) prior to movement stimulates frontoparietal networks, thereby improving gait speed and dynamic balance compared to a passive control condition.
Stroke often results in impaired sensorimotor integration and executive dysfunction, leading to gait and balance deficits. Emerging evidence suggests a link between numerical cognition and motor control networks. This randomized controlled trial compares an experimental group (performing 30-second mental arithmetic tasks) against a control group (passive visual exposure). Functional mobility is assessed immediately following the cognitive stimulus using the Ten-Meter Walk Test (10mWT) and the Timed Up and Go (TUG) test to evaluate the immediate "priming" effects of cognitive load on motor performance.
Study Type
INTERVENTIONAL
Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Purpose
TREATMENT
Masking
SINGLE
Enrollment
17
Visual presentation of arithmetic equations (Addition, Subtraction, Multiplication) projected on a screen. Participants must calculate and verbally report the answer within a 10-second window per equation.
Passive viewing of a black screen with no cognitive demand.
Gait Speed (10mWT)
Assessed using the Ten-Meter Walk Test (10mWT). Participants walk 14 meters; time is recorded for the middle 10 meters to determine steady-state gait speed.
Time frame: Immediately following the 30-second cognitive stimulus.
Dynamic Balance (TUG)
Assessed using the Timed Up and Go (TUG) test. Time taken to stand from a chair, walk 3 meters, turn, walk back, and sit down.
Time frame: Immediately following the 30-second cognitive stimulus.
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