COPD patients had significantly lower preferred paced walking velocity compared to age-matched controls (1.02 vs. 1.22 m/s, p=0.005) and lacked walking automaticity based on PFC neural activity.
Case-Control (n=35)
Does COPD affect prefrontal cortex neural activity and walking automaticity compared to healthy controls?
COPD patients exhibit a loss of walking automaticity, evidenced by higher prefrontal cortex oxygenation during walking compared to healthy controls, which may contribute to slower walking speeds.
Absolute Event Rate: 1.02% vs 1.22%
p-value: p=0.005
The physical impairments (e.g., slower walking speed) in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) have been attributed to peripheral characteristics (e.g., muscle atrophy). However, cognitive impairment may compromise motor control including walking automaticity. The objective of this study was to investigate PFC neural activity, evaluated using changes in oxygenated hemoglobin (ΔO2Hb), during preferred paced walking (PPW) in COPD patients and age-matched controls. The ΔO2Hb from the left and right dorsolateral PFC was measured using functional near-infrared spectroscopy. Fifteen COPD patients (age: 71 ± 8) and twenty age-matched controls (69 ± 7 years) participated. Two-way mixed ANOVA demonstrated that O2Hb in both groups decreased during PPW from the start (quintile 1; Q1) to the end (quintile 5; Q5) in the left dorsolateral and medial PFC. Q1 was comprised of the data during the first 20% of the task, while Q5 included data collected in the last 20% of the task duration. PPW duration ranged between 30.0 and 61.4 s in the control group and between 28.6 and 73.0 s in COPD patients. COPD patients demonstrated a higher O2Hb in Q5 compared to the negative O2Hb in controls in the right medial and dorsolateral PFC during PPW. PPW velocity was lower in COPD patients compared to controls (1.02 ± 0.22 vs. 1.22 ± 0.14 m/s, p = 0.005). Healthy older controls exhibited automaticity during walking unlike patients with COPD. The lesser decrease in O2Hb in COPD patients may be attributed to increased executive demands or affect-related cues (e.g., pain or dyspnea) during walking.
Hassan et al. (Wed,) conducted a case-control in Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) (n=35). Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) vs. Age-matched healthy controls was evaluated on Preferred paced walking (PPW) velocity (p=0.005). COPD patients had significantly lower preferred paced walking velocity compared to age-matched controls (1.02 vs. 1.22 m/s, p=0.005) and lacked walking automaticity based on PFC neural activity.
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