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Asthma history influences gait performance and associated prefrontal cortex activation patterns in older adults

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Abstract

Walking and cognition are interrelated due to dependence on shared brain regions that include the prefrontal cortex (PFC). Limited literature indicates that asthma is associated with poor mobility in older adults but the mechanisms underlying this relationship are unknown. Therefore, we tested the hypothesis that asthma history was associated with poor gait performance due to limited attention resources and neural inefficiency. Participants, older adults age ≥ 65 years reporting positive (n = 36) and negative (n = 36) history of asthma, walked under single and dual-task conditions with a functional near-infrared-spectroscopy (fNIRS) sensor placed on their forehead to assess task-related changes in PFC oxygenated hemoglobin (HbO2). Results showed that positive asthma history was associated with slower gait and higher fNIRS-derived HbO2 under dual-task walking. These findings suggest that limited attention resources and neural inefficiency underlie the association between asthma and poor walking performance in older adults.

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The data used in the current study may be requested in writing from the corresponding author.

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Funding

This research was supported by the National Institutes of Health Grants (R01AG036921, R01AG044007, R01NS109023). The funders had no role in the design of the study; in the collection, analyses, or interpretation of data; in the writing of the manuscript, or in the decision to publish the results.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Ferkauf Graduate School of Psychology, Yeshiva University, Bronx, NY, USA

    Roee Holtzer & Jonathan M. Feldman

  2. Department of Neurology, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, NY, USA

    Roee Holtzer

  3. Department of Pediatrics (Division of Academic General Pediatrics), Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Children’s Hospital at Montefiore, Bronx, NY, USA

    Jonathan M. Feldman

  4. Department of Medicine (Division of Allergy/Immunology), Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Montefiore Medical Center, Bronx, NY, USA

    Sunit P. Jariwala

  5. Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Villanova University, Villanova, PA, USA

    Meltem Izzetoglu

Authors
  1. Roee Holtzer
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  2. Jonathan M. Feldman
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  3. Sunit P. Jariwala
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  4. Meltem Izzetoglu
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Contributions

Literature search (RH, JF); data collection (RH); study design (RH, JF); analysis of data (RH, MI); manuscript preparation (RH, JF); review of manuscript (RH, JF, SPJ, MI), approval of manuscript submission (RH, JF, SPJ, MI).

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Roee Holtzer.

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Conflict of interest

Dr. Izzetoglu has a very minor share in the company that manufactures the fNIRS device used in this study. All other authors have no conflict of interest to report in relation to the current article.

Ethical standards

The work described in this manuscript has been executed in adherence with The Code of Ethics of the World Medical Association (Declaration of Helsinki). Participants signed written informed consents in the first in-person study visit. The Institutional Review Board of Albert Einstein College of Medicine approved this study, Study Protocol: 2010-224.

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Holtzer, R., Feldman, J.M., Jariwala, S.P. et al. Asthma history influences gait performance and associated prefrontal cortex activation patterns in older adults. Aging Clin Exp Res 35, 407–411 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40520-022-02306-6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s40520-022-02306-6

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