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The impact of gait complexity on visual information processing

Poster Session D - Monday, March 9, 2026, 8:00 – 10:00 am PDT, Fairview/Kitsilano Ballroom

Edmund Wascher¹ (); ¹IfADo

Walking is in many situations a highly automated skill that requires only minor cognitive resources. Whenever the walking surface becomes uneven, locomotion can turn into complex behavior that has to be cognitively controlled. In this case, other cognitive tasks will be affected by increased cognitive-motor interference (CMI). So far there is only few research for visual processing on this topic due to restricted experimental opportunities. Experimental approaches require either outdoor measurements of mobile EEG or virtual environments in which gait complexity can be manipulated. We tested peripheral visual stimulus detection under varying walking conditions while measuring mobile EEG. The treadmill either run flat or was tilting in various complexities. No main effect of gait complexity was found in a first experiment, but both for response accuracy and late ERP components a decrease of peripheral performance decline was observed, indicating a widening of attention when walking becomes more complex. In a follow up experiment (pilot phase), we increased the amplitude of tilting to amplify the impact of gait complexity. Here we see a stronger effect of gait complexity, primarily with respect to response times. Most interestingly, responses became faster with flat walking if compared to standing but were on the same level with standing when walking was more complex. So far, the experiments show a complex interaction between walking demands and visual processing, pending on available resources but also the type of information that has to be processed.

Topic Area: PERCEPTION & ACTION: Vision