Sensorimotor-cognitive couplings in the context of assistive spatial navigation for older adults

With advancing adult age, sensorimotor functioning, spatial processing, and the motivation to explore new environments decline, leading to impaired spatial navigation skills. Using a controlled virtual-world laboratory equipped with a treadmill interface, we examined how assistive navigation technologies differing in cognitive demand affect walking regularity and navigation performance in younger and older adults. Relative to an assistive device with low cognitive demands, older, but not younger adults' navigation performance decreased with a cognitively more demanding device. Furthermore, older adults showed higher gait irregularity than younger adults, especially with the cognitively demanding device. We conclude that assistive navigation devices show promise in supporting older adults' pedestrian mobility if aging-induced increments in cognitive demands of spatial navigation and postural control are considered.