Effects of Varying Difficulty Levels of a Secondary Cognitive Task on Motor Abilities in Parkinson’s Patients

Abstract

This project explores how performing a cognitive task affects a person’s ability to regain balance after a physical perturbation. Using motion capture, force plates, and a joystick-controlled game, we measured key gait metrics such as step length, and margin of stability in healthy individuals. Our goal is to establish a pipeline that can be used in future studies involving Parkinson’s disease patients to better understand dual-tasking effects on balance recovery.

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