Jason Longhurst and co-authors Morgan Wise, Daniel Krist, Caitlin Moreland, Jon Basterrechea, and Merrill Landers (all Kinesiology and Physical Therapy) recently published an article, “Brain Volumes and Dual-task Performance Correlates Among Individuals with Cognitive Impairment: A Retrospective Analysis,” which will be published soon in the Journal of Neural Transmission.

The authors examined medical records of 65 patients with memory loss who had received physical therapy to determine if their ability to conduct motor and cognitive tasks simultaneously were impacted by their brain volume and other factors. The findings suggest that when these patients dual-task, they tend to lose more of their cognitive skills; as memory loss progresses, patients tend to focus more on motor skills, sacrificing their cognitive skills; and there may be a more complicated interaction between specific brain regions, disease processes, and function in those with memory loss; all areas warranting further research.

Longhurst, Wise, Krist, Moreland, and Basterrechea all are physical therapy graduate students.