Imagine you’re walking down the street, trying to count backwards and name as many animals as possible. It’s not easy, right? Well, that’s what researchers call a dual-task, meaning you’re doing two things at once – walking and thinking. In a recent study, scientists investigated the relationship between these dual-task gait abilities and white matter hyperintensities (WMH) in patients with Lewy body diseases like Parkinson’s disease and dementia with Lewy bodies. WMH are areas of increased signal intensity seen on MRI scans, which have been linked to both gait impairments and cognitive decline. The researchers hypothesized that a higher dual task cost (DTC), meaning more difficulty with cognitive-motor interactions, would be associated with greater WMH volume. And guess what? They were right! Participants with higher DTC had more WMH in their frontal lobes, even after accounting for age, cardiovascular risk, and global cognition. This suggests that the interaction between cognitive tasks and walking is linked to changes in brain structure in these neurological disorders. So next time you find yourself multitasking while walking, remember that it may have an impact on your brain health! To dive deeper into this fascinating research, check out the full article.

BackgroundParkinson’s disease (PD) and dementia with Lewy bodies (DLB) are part of a spectrum of Lewy body disorders, who exhibit a range of cognitive and gait impairments. Cognitive-motor interactions can be examined by performing a cognitive task while walking and quantified by a dual task cost (DTC). White matter hyperintensities (WMH) on magnetic resonance imaging have also been associated with both gait and cognition. Our goal was to examine the relationship between DTC and WMH in the Lewy body spectrum, hypothesizing DTC would be associated with increased WMH volume.MethodsSeventy-eight participants with PD, PD with mild cognitive impairment (PD-MCI), PD with dementia or DLB (PDD/DLB), and 20 cognitively unimpaired participants were examined in a multi-site study. Gait was measured on an electronic walkway during usual gait, counting backward, animal fluency, and subtracting sevens. WMH were quantified from magnetic resonance imaging using an automated pipeline and visual rating. A median split based on DTC was performed. Models included age as well as measures of global cognition and cardiovascular risk.ResultsCompared to cognitively unimpaired participants, usual gait speed was lower and DTC was higher in PD-MCI and PDD/DLB. Low DTC participants had higher usual gait speed. WMH burden was greater in high counting DTC participants. Frontal WMH burden remained significant after adjusting for age, cardiovascular risk and global cognition.ConclusionIncreased DTC was associated with higher frontal WMH burden in Lewy body disorders after adjusting for age, cardiovascular risk, and global cognition. Higher DTC was associated with age.

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