Activation of the Prefrontal Cortex and Improvement of Cognitive Performance with Standing on One Leg

• Published in: Neuroscience 2021-11, Vol.477, p.50-62
• Main Authors: Sugihara, Yuma, Matsuura, Tomoki, Kubo, Yusuke, Ohgomori, Tomohiro
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: center of pressure; Cognition; Humans; Leg; memory; Postural Balance; posture; Prefrontal Cortex; Standing Position; Young Adult
• ISSN: 0306-4522; 1873-7544
• DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroscience.2021.10.004

•Cognitive tasks selectively reduce postural sway amplitude in healthy young adults.•The activation of prefrontal cortex is observed during standing on one leg.•Cognitive performance in young adults is better when standing on one leg than two.•Activity of the prefrontal cortex was correlated with postural sway. The prefrontal cortex (PFC) is involved in attention, motor planning, and executive functions. In addition, it is known that postural control and cognitive performance are affected during dual-task paradigms, suggesting that postural control and cognition use common areas of the brain. Although postural control and cognition have been used as interfering dual tasks, the neuronal mechanisms underlying interference are not fully understood. We simultaneously performed postural and cognitive tasks in healthy young adults and evaluated activity in the PFC using near-infrared spectrometry. The displacement of the center of pressure (COP) is reduced by cognitive tasks. Difficult postural tasks increased the relative proportion and amplitude of postural sway in the high-frequency bandwidth, related to the adjustment of postural sway. Although the cognitive tasks did not affect the relative proportion of each frequency bandwidth, the amplitudes were selectively reduced. The postural task-dependent change in PFC activity was correlated with the relative proportion and amplitude of postural sway in the high-frequency bandwidth of the COP movement. Cognitive task-dependent changes in PFC activity were not correlated with postural sway. Cognitive performance was better in unipedal standing than bipedal standing. These findings suggest that postural tasks affect cognitive performance via the activation of the PFC, but cognitive tasks affect postural control through a different mechanism.