BEHAVIOUR OF CORTICAL ACTIVATION IN ELDERLY DURING DUAL-TASK PERFORMANCE
Electroencephalogram, Dual-Taks, Cortical activation, Elderly, physiotherapy.
Introduction: In daily activity, the individuals commonly need to perform two – or more – simultaneous tasks, like walking and watch for obstacles to avoid accidents. However, morphological discoveries in elders has shown a reduction on gray matter in frontal lobe: a strictly necessary region to perform properly of the executive function and essential for dual task (DT). The electroencephalogram (EEG) is used to observe the brain dynamics by monitoring the electrical flux. This flux is related to the activation of determined brain areas responsible for specific functions, where higher flux means higher activation, in a direct relation. Considering this relation, the DT training is an important tool for motor and cognitive gains in elders. Yet, some studies found that brain patterns are scarce. Thus, it is very important the investigation on how the dual task can influence the brain activation pattern in elders. Methodology: It will be performed a transversal descriptive observational study investigating subjects above 65 years old. The subjects will be submitted to a dual task situation through the Functional Ambulation Test (FAT), that uses an Emotiv EPOC for electroencephalographic analysis to watch the cortical activation during the dual task performance. Statistical analysis: The data will be tabbed and analyzed following the device analysis instructions, and then computed by SPSS data package for the descriptive analysis and statistical treatment. The descriptive analysis consists of the interpretation of average, standard deviation and frequency. It will be applied the Shapiro-Wilk test for normality checking and then the data will be analyzed by the Multivariate Analysis of Variance (MANOVA) for normal distribution, or by Kruskal-Wallis if non-normal results come to surface. Preliminar results: A quick sample composed by 3 subjects (average age of 66,33 years). All participants are of feminine sex and the scholar degree change from: incomplete elementary school (66,7%) and university graduate (33,3%). The average time of test performance was 1 minute and 2 seconds for first test, and 2 minutes and 45 seconds for the second test. There were no test errors during the first run, but during the second, the average error occurrence was equal to 1.3 errors. The values of power activation between the subjects involved showed a considerable variation and, then, a significant standard deviation. The alpha, theta and beta frequencies has showed a higher activation power during the second test.