During these experiments, researchers used a Mobile Brain/Body Imaging system, or MoBI, located in the Del Monte Institute’s Frederick J. and Marion A. Schindler Cognitive Neurophysiology Lab. The platform combines virtual reality, brain monitoring, and motion capture technology. While participants walk on a treadmill or manipulate objects on a table, 16 high speed cameras record the position markers with millimeter precision, while simultaneously measuring their brain activity.
The MoBI was used to record the brain activity of participants as they walked on a treadmill and were cued to switch tasks. Their brain activity was also recorded as they performed these same tasks while sitting. Brain changes were measured between the cued tasks and showed that during the more difficult the tasks the neurophysiological difference was greater between walking and sitting – highlighting the flexibility of a healthy brain and how it prepares for and executes tasks based on difficulty level.
“The MoBI allows us to better understand how the brain functions in everyday life,” said Edward Freedman, Ph.D., lead author on the study. “Looking at these findings to understand how a young healthy brain is able to switch tasks will give us better insight to what’s going awry in a brain with a neurodegenerative disease like Alzheimer’s disease.”
“Understanding how a young healthy brain can successfully ‘walk and talk’ is an important start, but we also need to understand how these findings differ in the brains of healthy older adults, and adults with neurodegenerative diseases,” said Richardson. “The next stage is expanding this research to include a more diverse group of brains.”
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