Abstracts Category : Other

The impact of cognitive load on volitional running, kayaking, rock climbing and arithmetic tasks and the effect of fatigue on risk perception.

by Megan Blakely

The effects of physical activity on cognition and the effects of cognitive load on physical activity are complex. Both the nature of the physical activity and the cognitive task may influence the interactive effects of performing a physical task concurrently with a cognitive task. In a previous study examining the impact of increased cognitive load on outdoor running speed and the impact of outdoor running on cognitive performance, Blakely et al (2015) found running speed decreased as cognitive load increased. They also found that the impact of running itself on cognitive performance occurred when the cognitive task was itself demanding (high cognitive load). In the current study we modified the experimental task in order to rule out peripheral sensory, not central or executive, interference and we also incorporated heart rate measures and VO2 max estimates. Twelve runners completed five conditions, two seated cognitive tasks (one low load and one high load), two dual running cognitive tasks and one run only. Results were similar to the original experiment, as the cognitive task became more difficult, voluntary running speed decreased. Also the effects of running on cognitive performance (counting) were found only when the cognitive task was high load.Twelve people participated in a dual-kayak cognitive counting task experiment, during which they completed five conditions, two dual tasks, two seated tasks in either low or high load and one kayak only task (control). They used their own paddling gear and were played a counting task designed to tax working memory through headphones, giving a verbal response to report the fourth tone counted of either the low tone only (low load) or all three tones simultaneously (high load). Results were similar to the running experiment, the low load counting task showed no difference to the control condition but the high load task did. Participants did however perform better in the control conditions overall than in the dual tasks. Kayak speed results were mostly as expected; as the task became more difficult, kayak speed decreased. There was a drop between control (paddle only) and the low load conditions that didnt drop much further in the high load condition. This suggests that kayak performance was affected by the addition of a complex thinking task even at low load showing kayak performance is particularly susceptible to cognitive resource interference.Rock climbing is a particularly cognitively demanding sport. Planning, movement, reaching, posture control, and fear of falling have all been evidenced to use cognitive attention (Bourdin, Teasdale, & Nougier, 1998; Green et al., 2014; Green & Helton, 2011; Teasdale, Bard, Larue, & Fleury, 1993). For these reasons it was chosen to compare with previous dual running and kayaking experiments that used a counting task as the dual task (Blakely et al., 2015). Using an identical dual task experiment design as previous experiments (chapters two and three), rock climbers completed five conditions, two dual, two single and one