Objective: To determine whether motor and cognitive dual-task (DT) gait costs decrease across ten consecutive walking trials in people with Parkinson’s disease (PD), indicating short-term motor or cognitive adaptation.
Background: PD disrupts gait automaticity due to motor and cognitive impairments, particularly under DT conditions. These deficits increase reliance on attentional resources, contributing to functional decline and fall risk. However, it remains unclear whether repeated DT walking trials can induce short-term adaptation and reduce these costs.
Method: A cross-sectional observational study included 49 individuals with PD in Hoehn and Yahr (H&Y) stages 1-3 who were able to walk independently and had no significant cognitive impairment. Participants had a mean age of 61.1 years and presented mild to moderate motor impairment with relatively preserved cognition. All participants were evaluated in a single session by trained physiotherapists. Motor severity was assessed using the Unified Parkinson’s Disease Rating Scale (UPDRS), and global cognition was evaluated with the Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA). Spatiotemporal gait parameters were collected using the GAITRite electronic walkway. Participants performed three experimental conditions in randomized order: (1) single motor task (walking only), (2) single cognitive task (verbal fluency), and (3) DT (walking while generating words). Each condition was repeated for ten consecutive trials. Motor and cognitive DT costs were calculated based on gait parameters and task performance.
Results: No significant differences were found between DT gait costs calculated from three versus ten consecutive trials across all analyzed parameters (p > 0.05). These findings remained consistent after controlling for age, disease severity, and cognitive performance.
Conclusion: DT gait costs did not decrease with repeated trials, suggesting that short-term repetition does not improve gait automaticity or attentional allocation in PD. Structured motor and cognitive training strategies may therefore be necessary to address DT gait deficits in this population.
To cite this abstract in AMA style:
G. Koitla, P. Silva, H. Bernini, V. Silva, L. Aranha, D. Garcia, M. Santos, G. Santos, L. Santos, H. Santos, M. Piemonte. Dual-Task Gait Costs are not Reduced by Immediate Repetition in Parkinson’s Disease [abstract]. Mov Disord. 2026; 41 (suppl 1). https://www.mdsabstracts.org/abstract/dual-task-gait-costs-are-not-reduced-by-immediate-repetition-in-parkinsons-disease/. Accessed October 1, 2026.« Back to 2026 International Congress
MDS Abstracts - https://www.mdsabstracts.org/abstract/dual-task-gait-costs-are-not-reduced-by-immediate-repetition-in-parkinsons-disease/