Concurrent effects of working memory components on postural sway during quiet standing in brain stroke survivors

This study aimed to investigate the effects of working memory dual tasks on postural sway in chronic stroke patients. Twenty chronic stroke survivors were recruited from rehabilitation clinics in Mashhad. Centre of pressure (COP) was measured on a force plate in the baseline standing condition, the standing condition while the phonological loop component of working memory was activated, and in the standing condition while the visuospatial sketchpad component of working memory was activated. Repeated measures analysis of variance was used to analyze the data. The results indicated the effects of interference on postural sway exhibited in mean velocity in the mediolateral direction (P=0.01). Notably, the visuospatial task caused greater disruption to postural control compared to the phonological loop task (P=0.019 vs. 0.006, P=0.03). The mediolateral speed of changes in COP reduced significantly with the phonological loop working memory task in comparison to the without memory task. The visuospatial working memory dual task interfered more with the postural control of stroke people.