Investigating the effect of induced stress on dual-task performance

Doing two tasks concurrently is an inevitable situation that occurs in daily life. Several factors such as pathological conditions, the aging process, and even stress may have a detrimental effect on both tasks’ performances. The aim of this study was to monitor perceived stress during dual-task to investigate how inducing stress affects dual-task performance. Eighteen healthy young participants, (24.76±3.56 years; 68.85 ±11.85 kg; 1.72±0.07 m) were recruited. Participants were asked to perform a single task (no secondary task) and DTs (wire maze with or without buzzer) randomly while standing on a firm surface. Perceived stress was obtained after each trial as a subjective measure. Ground reaction force (GRF) regularity in anterior-posterior and mediolateral directions, as well as wire maze error (ring to path contact), were calculated as dual-task performance. Subjects were able to perceive an increase in mental stress across conditions and, the increase in perceived stress led to fewer errors in the wire maze during the most stressful condition. Further, the addition of a secondary task increased the regularity of GRF in both directions, which might be due to more automatic GRF and less flexible postural control. The presence of DT and mental stress increased the regularity of GRF, while wire maze errors were reduced despite an increase in perceived stress. Induced stress during dual task appears to have caused a cost for standing, yet a benefit for wire maze performance, indicating task prioritization under stress