“EFFECT OF DUAL TASK TRAINING VERSUS ANALOGY TRAINING ON GAIT SPEED AND BALANCE IN OLDER ADULTS.â€

Successful aging suffer less from declining abilities and enjoy a relatively higher level of cognitive wellness through the reorganization of brain networks. While, cognitive aging is typically associated with reductions of attention and memory capacities. Aging also can affect attention capacity ,executive control, working memory, processing speed and episodic memory which results poorer working memory, and poor processing speed .which also can affect the walking pattern in older adults. Walking is a complex process involving the interaction of neuromuscular, sensory, and cognitive functions, all of which deteriorate with aging. Both cognitive and motor task impact the walking performance, including decreased speed, increased stride time and stride time variability, especially in the older population. Which can lead to falls, reduced confidence, reduced functional mobility and quality of life in older adults. Therefore, there is a need to develop interventions to improve walking performance in older adults. Cognitive strategies, such as attentional strategies (self-generated with an internal focus), the use of external cues (auditory, visual or tactile), or self-instruction strategies can be beneficial in improving gait. Using motor learning strategies with cognitive function can strengthen working memory, increase processing speed and to improve multitasking performance. Implicit motor learning strategies describe as learning that progress with non or minimal increase in verbal knowledge of movement performance without awareness. Practical approach to use implicit motor learning is using analogies. Prefrontal cortex (PFC) plays a crucial role in cognitive function and was evident to be involved in dual tasking. Increased activation in PFC was observed during dual task walking healthy adults, and older adults tended to activate more compared to younger participants. Other Motor brain areas such as premotor cortex (PMC) and supplemental motor area (SMA) were also found to activate during dual task walking, which were responsible for stabilizing gait and adapting walking speed. Hence there is need to explore the potential impact of dual-task, analogy training on rehabilitation outcomes it could provide practical insights for the development of future therapeutic interventions for fall prevention programs.