The Effects of a Continuous Cognitive Task on Postural Control Under Virtual Height-Induced Threat

The Effects of a Continuous Cognitive Task on Postural Control Under Virtual Height-Induced ThreatHeight-related postural threat has been shown to alter center of pressure (COP) dynamics and has been associated with increased conscious attention to balance.Conversely, performing a concurrent cognitive task may promote more automatic postural control by redirecting attention away from posture.Whether such effects persist under postural threat remains unclear.Notably, the increased conscious attention to balance associated with postural threat may interfere with the automatic postural adjustments typically associated with dual-tasking.The present study therefore examined how performing a concurrent cognitive task influences COP dynamics during virtual height exposure, to better understand the role of attention in balance control under threat.Twenty-three young adults stood with their feet together on a force platform at ground level without virtual reality and on a virtual plank at height.In each environment, they completed five 60-s trials with and without a continuous auditory mental-counting task.COP sway area, mean velocity, sample entropy and relative frequency content were analyzed.Our results show that dual-tasking promotes changes typically associated with more automatic postural control (i.e., increased COP irregularity and a shift toward higher-frequency components), even when postural control is already altered by height-related threat.These findings highlight the potential role of attentional strategies in modulating postural regulation under threat.